In his February 2004 Kappan article, Mike Schmoker called into question the effectiveness of many of the major reform efforts of the past two decades. In particular he made the case that strategic planning efforts and whole-school reform efforts have been mostly ineffective because planning cycles are too long and implementation is too complex and cumbersome, leading to "fragmentation and overload." To solve these problems and to make schools work better for students, he recommended that small groups of teachers work collaboratively on relatively short- term goals. He wrote, "We must replace complex, long-term plans with simple plans that focus on actual teaching lessons and units created in true "learning communities" that promote team-based, short-term thought and action." After several years of working with school districts on various systemic reform efforts, Mr. Stewart and Mr. Brendefur, the authors of this article, conclude that the best way to bring about positive change at the classroom level is to adopt a model wherein small groups of teachers work in collaborative learning communities focused on improving day-to-day instruction. The model is described in this article. (Contains 13 notes.)