Pieces of the Puzzle alteration of seniority systems, more aggressive turnaround of troubled schools, and similar reforms. Whatever its unanswered questions, this study shows that there is increasing reason to be optimistic about the future of urban public education, not because big-city schools are making significant progress (which they are), but because the progress appears to be the result of purposeful and coherent reforms. This exploratory report was part of our larger effort to increase our performance as urban educators through knowledge and research. Too much of the history of urban education has been defined around who is valuable in this society and who is not; for whom we have high hopes and for whom we have no hopes at all; for whom we have high standards and for whom we hold no great expectations. But our job in public education is not to reflect and perpetuate these inequities or to let them define us or hold us or our kids back. Our job is to overcome them. The great civil rights battles were not fought so that urban children could have access to mediocrity; they were fought over access to excellence and the resources to provide it. Our job is to create excellence. This project is one more step toward that goal, one more piece of the puzzle.
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