Nina G. Dorsch is Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at Northern Illinois University.

• Acknowledgments Welcome to Connections: An Introduction 1. A Prologue to the Connections Journey 2. Launching the Connections Odyssey: Spring and Summer, 1993 3. First Day, First Impressions: August 24, 1993 4. Second Impressions: September 14, 1993 5. The Best of Times 7. June 1994: The Odyssey's Epilogue? Appendices Notes Bibliography Index

"A remarkable vignette of an 'anywhere' suburban high school filled with 'everywhere' conflicts and opportunities. High schools are at the top of many reform agendas nationally. Tales of problems associated with the changing role of teachers are legendary, but tales that reflect on these problems and offer readers some lessons to consider are rare. The author's writing style is light and conversational, and yet packed with rich and important descriptive details that bring authenticity to the story." — Linda Shelor, Center for Leadership in School Reform, Louisville, Kentucky"The reader is drawn along with the Connections' teachers on their most interesting journey. Dorsch's writing strategy, portraying the events of individual days as well as a story-like retelling of the best and worst of times, is very novel. Rarely does educational research get framed in so rich a format, where characters and their lives come so vividly to life. It's a real page turner." — Karen Hunter Quartz, UCLA Graduate School of Education