This collection of papers takes stock of 20 years of school reform in the United States, examining whether the nation was ever "at risk," and if so, whether it still is and which reforms have made a difference. Papers include "Introduction" (David T. Gordon); (1) "Riding Waves, Trading Horses: The Twenty-Year Effort to Reform Education" (Susan H. Fuhram); (2) "Change and Improvement in Educational Reform" (Richard F. Elmore); (3) "The Academic Imperative: New Challenges and Expectations Facing School Leaders" (Timothy Knowles); (4) "A Principal Looks Back: Standards Matter" (Kim Marshall); (5) "Teaching: From `A Nation at Risk' to a Profession at Risk?" (Pam Grossman); (6) "Still at Risk: The Causes and Costs of Failure to Educate Poor and Minority Children for the Twenty-First Century" (Jeff Howard); (7) "The Limits of Ideology: Curriculum and the Culture Wars" (David T. Gordon); (8) "Missed Opportunities: Why the Federal Response to `A Nation at Risk' was Inadequate" (Maris A. Vinovskis); (9) "The Emerging State Leadership Role in Education Reform: Notes of a Participant-Observer" (Robert B. Schwartz); (10) "The American Way of School Reform" (Nathan Glazer) and "A Nation at Risk" (the National Commission on Excellence in Education). (Chapters contain endnotes.) (SM)