This collection of papers presents three approaches to urban educational reform. After "Introduction--Urban Education Reform: Competing Approaches" (James G. Cibulka and William Lowe Byrd), Part 1, "Systems Reforms of Urban School Systems," includes (1) "Accountability at the Improv: Brief Sketches of School Reform in Los Angeles" (Charles Taylor Kerchner and David Menefee-Libey); (2) "Philadelphia's Children Achieving Initiative: The Promise and Challenge of Systemic Reform in an Urban School District" (Jolley Bruce Christman, Tim Corcoran, Ellen Foley, and Theresa Luhm); and (3) "Balancing Autonomy and Control in the New York City Public Schools: Using the Double-ACE Model" (Bruce S. Cooper and David C. Bloomfield). Part 2, "Increasing Mayoral Influence over Urban Schools," includes (4) "Mayoral Takeover: The Different Directions Taken in Different Cities" (Michael W. Kirst and Katrina E. Bulkley); (5) "From Court Street to City Hall: Governance Change in the Boston Public Schools" (Gary Yee); (6) "Regime Change: Mayoral Takeover of the Chicago Public Schools" (Dorothy Shipps); and (7) "Implementation of an Accountability Agenda in High Schools: Integrated Governance in the Chicago Public Schools" (Kenneth K. Wong, Dorothea Anagnostopoulos, Stacey Rutledge, Laurence Lynn, and Robert Dreeben). Part 3, "External Intervention to Improve Urban School Systems," includes (8) "State and Federal Intervention to Improve Baltimore and Washington, D.C.'s Public Schools" (James G. Cibulka) and (9) "The Role of Sanctions for Improving Persistently Low-Performing Urban Schools: Early Findings of Policy Effects on Teacher Motivation in the Maryland Accountability System" (Heinrich Mintrop). Part 4, "Conclusion," offers (10) "Urban Education-Reform Strategies: Comparative Analysis and Conclusions" (James G. Cibulka and William Lowe Boyd). (Contains approximately 350 references and an index.) (SM)