This collection of papers analyzes various urban school reform strategies. There are 13 chapters in five parts. After "Introduction: Rethinking Urban School Reform" (Louis F. Miron and Edward P. St. John), Part 1, "The Courts and Urban Schools," contains (1) "School Desegregation is Over in the Inner Cities: What Do We Do Now?" (Richard Fossey) and (2) "The Need for Issues-Driven School Funding Reform in Urban Schools" (Neil Theobald). Part 2, "Government Initiated, External Reforms," includes (3) "Federal Title I as a Reform Strategy in Urban Schools" (Kenneth K. Wong); (4) "Inclusive Education in High Stakes, High Poverty Environments: The Case of Students with Learning Disabilities in Indiana's Urban Schools and the Graduation Qualifying Examination" (Genevieve Manset and Sandra Washburn); and (5) "Race, Restructuring, and Educational Reform: The Mayoral Takeover of the Detroit Public Schools" (Barry M. Franklin). Part 3, "Independently Adopted Research-Based Reforms," includes (6) "Research-Based Reading Reform: The Impact of State-Funded Interventions on Educational Outcomes in Urban Elementary Schools" (Edward P. St. John, Genevieve Manset, Choo-Geun Chung, Ada B. Simmons, Glenda Droogsma Musoba, Kim Manoil, and Kim Worthington); (7) "Comprehensive School Reform: An Exploratory Study" (Edward P. St. John, Genevieve Manset, Choong-Geun Chung, Glenda Droogsma Musoba, Siri Loescher, Ada B. Simmons, David Gordon, and Carol Anne Hossler); and (8) "Private Scholarships and School Choice: Innovation or Class Reproduction?" (Carolyn S. Ridenour and Edward P. St. John). Part 4, "Community-Based Reforms," includes (9) "Parental and Community Empowerment: The Chicago Model" (Kathryn Nakagawa); (10) "Joint Ventures between Public Schools and City Government: Implications for Community Development" (Louis F. Miron); and (11) "Rediscovering the African-American Tradition: Restructuring in Post-Desegregation Urban Schools" (Leetta Allan-Haynes, Edward P. St. John, and Joseph Cadray). Part 5, "A Critical-Empirical View," includes (12) "A Critical-Empirical Perspective on Urban School Reform" (Edward P. St. John and Louis F. Miron) and (13) "Implications of the New Global Context for Urban Reform" (Louis F. Miron and Edward P. St. John). (Papers contain references and the book contains an index.) (SM)