As every good secondary administrator knows, rigorous curricula matter. Challenging curricula is the factor in lifting each student to reach their potential: "the academic intensity of the student's high school curriculum still counts more than anything else...in providing momentum toward completing a bachelor's degree" (Adelman, 2006,…

The demographic profile of Conard High School in West Hartford, CT, reflects the national trends in "first-ring suburbs." Neither fully urban nor fully suburban, first-ring suburbs went from being generally less diverse than the nation in 1980 to more diverse by 2000 (Puentes, 2006). Conard students speak 53 different languages at home,…

The nation's goal of achieving educational equity has been both elusive and complex. U.S. schools are becoming more, not less, segregated, and the racial isolation of Black and Latino students from White students is a national trend. For two decades, the Rockville Centre School District in New York has engaged in reforms that were designed to…