RALPH EDWARDS is Senior Research Associate at the Center for Innovation in Urban Education at Northeastern University. Edwards was an elementary school principal in Harlem for 10 years and Assistant Professor of Education at Boston College prior to his current research activities.CHARLES V. WILLIE is Professor of Education and Urban Studies, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University. Willie has served as a community planner, university administrator as well as a court-appointed Master in the Boston School Desegregation case. Among his earlier publications are School Desegregation Plans That Work (Greenwood, 1984) and Effective Education (Greenwood, 1988).