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"These publications share the day-to-day struggles and triumphs of educators and students working to create new high schools in Ohio. They cover the first three to five years of efforts to transform underperforming large urban high schools into small personalized schools or to pioneer schools that blend high school and college - revealing the missteps, lessons learned and successful strategies that are boosting graduate rates and sending urban students to college. "

"It may be a good time to ask some fundamental questions: Why has there been so little success in reforming high schools? What have the myriad reform efforts to date done wrong? Can urban high schools be reformed at scale-and if so, what works? The answer to that last question is yes-but only under a set of very specific conditions. The Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools, where I served as chief academic officer, has created these conditions in its work with a network of 11 high schools and five middle schools in Los Angeles. These schools, all located in less-affluent sections of the city, have dramatically outperformed demographically similar district schools-despite spending $1,000 less per student."

""Just bells and whistles." That's how elementary math teacher Jennie Magiera described her feelings about the limited value of educational technology three years ago. Today Magiera serves as Digital Learning Coordinator for the Academy for Urban School Leadership's network of 25 Chicago Public Schools (CPS). As she trains others to use technology effectively, it is hard to imagine a time when she was so dismissive about technology in the classroom."

Jeannie Oakes is director of Education and Scholarship for the Ford Foundation. Until Fall 2008, she was Presidential Professor in Educational Equity at the University of California, Los Angeles. She also directs UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education & Access (IDEA), which offers new ways for public research universities to engage urban communities. S

"Moving Your Numbers provides examples of real districts - from small rural communities to large urban centers - that are positively affecting the performance of all children, including students with disabilities, through collective and focused actions of adults."

"The Black Lemonade Project is a culturally-based program that utilizes an empowerment curriculum to guide and support intentional conversations about current challenges facing urban parents."

The NUA's mission is to substantiate an irrefutable belief in the capacity of all public school children to achieve the high intellectual performances demanded by our ever changing global community. Our focus is teacher and administrator quality through professional development which incorporates current research from cognitive neuroscience on learning, teaching, and leading. We partner with school districts to support the building of their capacity to advocate community-wide responsibility for realizing the learning potential of its children.

"Education leadership has been called the "critical "bridge" that can unite the many different school reform approaches in ways that practically nothing else can. This was the central theme of The Wallace Foundation's national education conference held in October 2007, at which more than 400 leaders and experts gathered to share practical lessons and experiences about how states, districts and universities are going about the tough work of ensuring that all schools have well-trained, well-supported leadership. This special post-conference report opens with a commentary by Wallace President M. Christine DeVita on the progress and key lessons emerging from the Foundation's education leadership initiative. Richard L. Colvin, director of the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media, provides detailed highlights of the gathering. Stanford University Professor Linda Darling-Hammond, a conference keynote speaker, discusses the key elements of effective leadership training. Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, another keynote speaker, offers vivid examples of how strong leadership made the critical difference in previously-failing schools and urban districts"

No matter where they go to school. Generation Schools Network is dedicated to systemic innovation in urban public education. We envision an America that has transformed its city schools so that every student, regardless of circumstance, can prepare successfully for life's responsibilities, challenges and opportunities. Our work is driven by this basic idea:

"Creighton School District is a small urban community in Arizona with approximately 7,200 students, of whom 85% are Hispanic and 90% qualify for free and reduced-price lunch. Children in the district are tested informally on a weekly basis and then formally every quarter with a district-developed standards-based assessment in the areas of reading and math. To help families better understand the results of these tests, educators in the Creighton School District have reorganized the structure of parent-teacher conferences to accommodate the shift to a more focused discussion around data."

"A personal narrative sharing Dr. Sue Szachowicz's implementation of a schoolwide literacy initiative focused on adult learning.  Sue details her own experience creating a restructuring committee to improve academic achievement and personalize education for all students, giving educators an insider's perspective on leading renewal initiatives for urban schools with challenging demographics."

"Our Mission: Rethinking Schools is a nonprofit publisher and advocacy organization dedicated to sustaining and strengthening public education through social justice teaching and education activism. Our magazine, books, and other resources promote equity and racial justice in the classroom. We encourage grassroots efforts in our schools and communities to enhance the learning and well being of our children, and to build broad democratic movements for social and environmental justice."