This anthology describes and discusses the study and development of metropolitan educational delivery systems--the process of bringing education under the control of one system spanning the city and its suburbs. Substantive works focus on the forces presently surrounding the problem of metropolitan educational reform and the present state of operating systems for education in metropolitan areas. The book is primarily intended for scholars and practitioners engaged in the improvement of education. It emphasizes the progress of those communities that have adopted the metropolitan approach and explores both its quantitative and humanistic aspects. The various selections consider the factors underlying the concept of metropolitanism, the political forces requiring change in metropolitan communities, the operating models for metropolitan school organization, and the future options for metropolitan schools. An extensive bibliography is included. (Author/DN)