By melding policy analysis and up-close observation, the authorsilluminate the really hard issues in improving instruction. Thisbook will shape educational research and reform for many years tocome.

?David Tyack, Vida Jacks Professor of Education and History,Stanford University

RICHARD F. ELMORE is professor of education and chairman of programs in administration, planning, and social policy at the Graduate School of Education, Harvard University. PENELOPE L. PETERSON is University Distinguished Professor of Education at Michigan State University and president-elect of the American Educational Research Association. SARAH J. MCCARTHEY is an assistant professor in the department of curriculum and instruction at the University of Texas at Austin.