Scratch the surface of a successful school and you will find a web of interactions that is the root of its success. Who is it that envisions, inspires, cajoles, and rallies all the various players in and around a school toward any improvement goal? Often it's a superintendent, a principal, a professor, a special teacher, or a parent. In a word, it's a leader. This latest volume in the "Harvard Education Letter" Spotlight Series brings together 20 recent articles that highlight the ways leadership has made a difference in schools. Whether the topic is teacher collaboration or parent involvement, special education or closing the achievement gap, these stories illustrate how education leaders--including some of the most renowned thinkers in the field--have sought to effect change by bringing best practices to where students are: right in the classroom. This book is divided into five parts. Part I, Instructional Improvement, contains the following: (1) More than "Making Nice": Getting Teachers to (Truly) Collaborate (Laura Pappano); (2) Standards-Based Evaluation for Teachers: How One Public School System Links Teacher Performance, Student Outcomes, and Professional Growth (Andreae Downs); (3) Online Professional Development for Teachers: Chris Dede Discusses Its Strengths, Forms, and Future; (4) Rx for a Profession: The Connecticut Superintendents' Network Uses a "Medical Rounds" Model to Discuss Teaching and Learning (Robert Rothman); and (5) Three Thousand Missing Hours: Where Does the Instructional Time Go? (Richard F. Elmore). Part II, Assessment and Accountability, contains the following: (6) The "Data Wise" Improvement Process: Eight Steps For Using Test Data to Improve Teaching and Learning (Kathryn Parker Boudett, Elizabeth A. City, and Richard J. Murnane); (7) (In)formative Assessments: New Tests and Activities Can Help Teachers Guide Student Learning (Robert Rothman); (8) Adding Value to Student Assessment: Does "Value-Added Assessment" Live Up to Its Name? (Anand Vaishnav); and (9) Performance vs. Attainment: The Double Standard for Accountability in American High Schools (Richard F. Elmore). Part III, Diversity and Achievement, contains the following: (10) Recent Research On The Achievement Gap: Ronald Ferguson Discusses How Lifestyle Factors and Classroom Culture Affect Black-White Differences; (11) Making Schools Safer for LGBT Youth Despite Signs Of Progress, Harassment Persists (Michael Sadowski); (12) Eliminating Ableism: Thomas Hehir on the Aims of Special Education; and (13) Finding High-Achieving Schools in Unexpected Places: Karin Chenoweth Discusses What These Successful Schools Have in Common. Part IV, School and Community, contains the following: (14) "R" Is for Resilience: Schools Turn to "Asset Development" to Build on Students' Strengths (Nancy Walser); (15) Reinforcement, Richness, and Relationships: The Three Rs of One Model Afterschool Program: A Boston Program Looks beyond Tutoring and Homework Help to Build Student Success (Andreae Downs); and (16) Parents as Partners in School Reform: Outreach, Training--and Respect--Are Keys to Tapping This Critical Source of Support (Nancy Walser). Part V, Leading for Change, contains the following: (17) Beyond Bargaining: What Does It Take for School District-Union Collaboration to Succeed? (Mitch Bogen); (18) What (So-Called) Low-Performing Schools Can Teach (So-Called) High-Performing Schools (Richard F. Elmore); (19) In Praise of the Comprehensive High School: We Can Learn from What Small Schools Do Well--but There Are Things Big Schools Can do Better (Laura Cooper); (20) The Road to School Improvement: It's Hard, It's Bumpy, and It Takes as Long as It Takes (Richard F. Elmore and Elizabeth A. City). [Foreword by Michael Fullan.]