These are actually rather exciting times to be working on educational development issues. With the Millennium Development Goals focused on service delivery in low-income countries, and with the very positive response of the donor community (more than doubling external aid to education in low-income countries over the past four years), there is a lot of good will out there. But good ideas remain a scarce resource in this environment. [This book proposes] a lot of good ideas on the table and the timing couldn't be better as we reach the halfway mark of the MDG period. [This book] promises to bring real value-added to education development professionals across a wide spectrum.