This monograph presents an overview of educational reform and improvement from the perspective of the active, working teacher. A discussion is offered on the status of education from the period of 1896 to 1942. In this period, dominated by John Dewey, the philosophy of progressive education was implemented in many American schools. Descriptions are presented of the operation of experimental schools during this period, the courses they offered, the attitudes of their teachers, and the evaluation of their impact. Reform in English primary schools between the years 1945 and 1967 is considered in the second section. An essay "The Infant School Entity in England" by Lillian Weber is included in this section. The third section is devoted to a description of the development of the Greater Boston Teachers Center from 1968 to 1975. The final section contains selections from the notebook of Adelaide Sproul, who was an advisor at the Champlain School in Dorchester, Massachusetts. These notes offer observations on activities of the school, and on the teachers' methods of dealing with elementary children and handling their problems. (JD)