This education plan sets out a vision for instruction and school development so that Chicago Public Schools, Illinois, can become the premier urban school district in the United States. It represents a year of planning and program development in the areas of human capital, professional development, the Chicago Reading Initiative, the redesign of regions, after-school, and accountability, as well as a broad planning effort designed to identify overarching themes and challenges. This broad planning effort included an analysis of trends in student and school performance, a review of research on effective schools and school reform both locally and nationally, and an agenda-setting process that brought together diverse groups of participants to discuss the central issues facing K-12 schools. The plan details eight goals: (1) building instructional capacity; (2) high quality teaching and leadership; (3) learning communities and professional development; (4) support for student development and postsecondary training and education; (5) schools as centers of communities in partnership with families; (6) strengthening existing high school programs; (7) expanded choice within neighborhoods; and (8) accountability to support improvement in all schools. (Contains 16 references.) (SM)