Choosing Excellence in Public Schools

David W. Hornbeck has spent 42 years as an educator, community organizer, and activist, serving as Maryland State Superintendent of Schools, Philadelphia Superintendent of Schools, and chair of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the Carnegie Corporation's Commission on the Education of Early Adolescents, the Children's Defense Fund, the Council of Chief State School Officers, the National Chapter I Commission, and the Public Education Network.Katherine Conner spent her career in the School District of Philadelphia, as a teacher, teacher coach, and administrator, finishing as Associate Superintendent for Standards, Assessment, and Social Services.

• Part 1 Where There's the Will: Core Premises Built on Our ValuesChapter 2 The Power of ExpectationsChapter 3 The Origins of Low ExpectationsChapter 4 All Children Can Learn to High StandardsChapter 5 All Children Must Learn to High ExpectationsChapter 6 We Know How to Make All Schools Effective: Children Achieving and Philadelphia OutcomesChapter 7 StandardsChapter 8 AssessmentChapter 9 AccountabilityChapter 10 Quality for TeachersChapter 11 Quality School LeadershipChapter 12 Promising School Strategies (Part I): InstructionChapter 13 Promising School Strategies (Part II): Non-InstructionalChapter 14 ResourcesChapter 15 The Choices We Make Determine School EffectivenessChapter 16 The Public Will to Make Diffferent ChoicesChapter 17 Walk the Walk: Choosing Excellence and Equity in Public Education

I've read dozens of books on why we ought to make all of our schools successful and how to do it. No one tells us more compellingly than David Hornbeck. He and Katherine Conner have done unique work describing the public will that must create powerful support for successful schools and how to sustain that will in a way to move mountains, elect governors, and mobilize a people. If we are to realize our dreams for public schools and America's children, if Barack Obama's crusade for change is to succeed, this book must be our roadmap and our inspiration.