This article reports on the effectiveness of school uniform policies. At Stephen Decatur Middle School, it is the school's policy that all students wear the standard school attire consisting of khaki pants with polo shirts in white, burgundy, or navy blue. Some of the shirts also sport an embroidered Decatur eagle, an optional embellishment. Principal Rudolph Saunders' instincts tell him that students behave better when they're dressed alike, that they fight less and focus on their schoolwork more. Plus, the uniform puts all students on a more equal social footing, regardless of whether they come from comfortable middle-class households or one of the group foster-care homes that lie in Decatur's attendance zone. Yet national studies on the effectiveness of school uniform policies tell a story distinctly different from educators' experiences at Decatur. Research shows that uniform policies do not curb violence or behavioral problems in schools. They do not cultivate student self-esteem and motivation. They do not balance the social-status differences that often separate students and they do not improve academic achievement. (In fact, uniforms may even be associated with a small detrimental effect on achievement in reading, research shows.)