"Managing for Results in America's Great City Schools, 2012" is presented by the Council of the Great City Schools to its members and the public. The purpose of the project was and is to develop performance measures that can improve the business operations of urban public school districts nationwide. This year's report includes data from 61 of the Council's 67-member districts (91 percent) and provides a fully tested set of Power Indicators that superintendents and school boards can use to assess the overall performance of their district's business operations. It also provides a set of what the authors call Essential Few Measures that, along with the Power Indicators, can be used by chief executives to assess the performance of individual departments and operations. This report also provides an overview of the automated ActPoint[R] KPI performance management system, which was developed in partnership with TransACT Communications, Inc. Act Point[R] KPI is a fully-automated intelligence tool that allows districts to input raw data into smart on-line surveys; measure performance on selected Key Performance Indicators; compare performance to peer groups; and manage results for improved performance using the data-modeling tool. For the first time, the Council used the ActPoint[R] KPI system to produce this year's written report, "Managing for Results in America's Great City Schools, 2012." This report also provides "Case Studies of Best Practices" that answer the question, "What are the effective management practices of top performing urban school districts that allow them to run effective financial and business operations?" The intention of these case studies is to document practices underneath positive indicators and to increase collaboration between executives of top-performing districts and districts striving to improve their performance. Ultimately, the authors hope to enhance urban schools' ability to learn from each other and to better determine how large urban school systems work and what it takes to improve them. Appended are: (1) The Performance Management System; (2) Case Studies of Best Practices; (3) Grants Management; and (4) Accounts Payable.