This paper is one of a series on strategies for urban school improvement, which examines the interaction between pupil performance and family background. Instructional leadership, instructional emphasis, school climate, and teacher expectation are identified as factors which contribute to major differences in achievement levels among schools. Discussed are various reform initiatives and the formation of a promotional policy for the New York City Public School System. Implications for school reform are said to be based upon the following premises: (1) that all children are educable; (2) that the child's achievement potential derives from the nature of the school rather than the family background or neighborhood; and (3) children who experience little success initially in school become progressively less successful at each succeeding level of schooling. (JCD)