This paper pinpoints and discusses key aspects of the current approaches to school reform in the Arab world against the backdrop of what is accepted as the best practice in the international literature on effective school reform and educational change. The main goal of the paper is to highlight deeply ingrained assumptions and practices that are likely to create barriers for reformers who are interested in effectively implementing educational reform in the Arab region. The paper concludes with a list of recommendations informed by the current international literature on effective school reform, and deemed promising for overcoming the identified barriers and achieving effective and sustainable reform in the region. While the case of reform in the Arab region has its unique characteristics, it shares with other developing countries many of the challenges it faces. Lessons learned in this region offer promising insights to reformers in other developing regions of the world.