Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2015 - Social & Behavioral Sciences — Economics — African and African American Studies

In an era when school-reform efforts seem never ending, many of these attempts are thwarted by a lack of understanding of the process that undergirds change.  Fullan provides a masterly overview of the school-reform efforts of three of the largest urban school districts: New York, Toronto, and London.  Using case studies that explain each citys experience with school reform, the book is organized into five chapters.  The first chapter provides an overview of the challenges of urban education, emphasizing demographic challenges, attitudes regarding equity issues, and strategies used for improvement.  This is followed by three chapters, each devoted to the experiences in each city with reform efforts.  A final chapter analyzes the experiences, emphasizing those strategies that were effective.  Emphasis is given to the background against which each districts leaders chose certain paths and how the context of each city affected those choices.  Eloquently written, compelling, topical, and full of fascinating details about each citys reform efforts, the work is a marvelous complement to Daniel L. DukesThe Challenges of School District Leadership (2010) or Fullans ownLeading in a Culture of Change(2007) and is appropriate for any audience. Summing Up: Essential. All readership levels.