There is an urgent need for dramatic improvement in the performance of America's public schools. The key to improving the schools is the quality of the work students are provided. To improve the quality of the work students are provided, schools must be organized around students and the work provided to students rather than around adults and the work of teachers.
Students are volunteers.
Their attendance can be commanded, but their attention must be earned. The changes required to organize schools around students and student work cannot occur unless school districts and communities have or develop the capacities needed to support change - capacities that are now too often lacking in even the best run school districts. In this visionary book, Phillip Schlechty begins with an incisive discussion of the dangers and opportunities in reworking school systems.