"Collaborative Action for Equity and Opportunity" provides a how-to guide for education, government, and community leaders interested in creating cross-sector systems of support for students. These collaborations strive to close achievement and opportunity gaps and to help children overcome problems stemming from poverty, racism, and…

"Teacher Diversity and Student Success" makes a powerful case for diversifying the teaching force as an important policy lever for closing achievement gaps and moving schools closer to equity goals. Written by three leading scholars, the book provides nuanced solutions on how to diversify the teaching force, increase student exposures to…

"Assessing the Nation's Report Card" examines the history of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and outlines plans for improving and modernizing the organization. Educational policy analyst Chester E. Finn, Jr. imparts a rare inside analysis of the evolution of the NAEP program at key moments in its history, and…

"Equity and Quality in Digital Learning" identifies and presents specific strategies and practices for using digital tools to reduce inequities in educational opportunities and improve student outcomes. Based on the authors' ten-year research-practice partnership with both the Dallas and Milwaukee public school districts, the book…

In the thoroughly revised second edition of "Start Where You Are, But Don't Stay There," H. Richard Milner IV addresses the knowledge and insights required on the part of teachers and school leaders to serve students of color. Milner focuses on a crucial issue in teacher training and professional education: the need to prepare teachers…

"Children at the Center" provides a closely observed account of a decade-long effort to reshape the scope, direction, and quality of the Boston Public Schools' early childhood programs. Drawing on multiple perspectives and voices from the field, the authors highlight the reflective, collaborative, inquiry-driven approach undertaken by…

Based on in-depth interviews, "Striving for Equity" brings to light the complex and illuminating stories of thirteen longtime superintendents--all leaders of the Minority Student Achievement Network (MSAN)--who were able to make progress toward narrowing opportunity and achievement gaps in traditional school districts with diverse…

This important book explores how education time can be expanded, reimagined, and reorganized in an effort to enhance the educational opportunities and outcomes of disadvantaged students. The editors and contributors address questions of educational equity and opportunity by considering how best to extend learning time in high-poverty schools.…

In this ambitious volume, leading legal and educational scholars examine "San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez" (1973), the landmark US Supreme Court decision that held that the Constitution does not guarantee equality of educational opportunity. Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., and Kimberly Jenkins Robinson have brought…

In "Excellence Gaps in Education," Jonathan A. Plucker and Scott J. Peters shine a spotlight on "excellence gaps"--the achievement gaps among subgroups of students performing at the highest levels of achievement. Much of the focus of recent education reform has been on closing gaps in achievement between students from different…

This landmark volume commemorates the fortieth anniversary of the Children's Defense Fund, which has been an uncompromising champion of American youth for all of those years. Yet the book looks not to the past but at our current circumstances--and at the challenges we must meet now and in the future on behalf of our young people. The book examines…

"Strategic Inquiry" is an innovative model for promoting teacher collaboration around identifying specific "learning gaps" that keep struggling students from succeeding. Gaps may include anything from the proper use of commas and conjunctions to concepts such as "slope" in math. The authors argue that addressing these…

In "Why Knowledge Matters," influential scholar E. D. Hirsch, Jr., addresses critical issues in contemporary education reform and shows how cherished truisms about education and child development have led to unintended and negative consequences. Hirsch, author of "The Knowledge Deficit," draws on recent findings in neuroscience…

This timely and thoughtful book provides multiple perspectives on closing achievement gaps. Closing persistent gaps in educational outcomes between different groups of students has been a central goal of educational policy for the past forty years. The commitment to close existing achievement gaps poses an unprecedented challenge to policy makers,…

At the heart of the effort to enact and scale up successful school reforms is the need for more robust links between research and practice. One promising approach is design development, a methodology widely used in other fields and only recently adapted to education, which offers a disciplined process for identifying practical problems, assessing…