Big-city school districts play a critical role in educating America’s children. Although there are almost 17,000 public school districts in the United States, just 100 of them serve 23 percent of all students, 30 percent of economically disadvantaged students, and 40 percent of students from racial minorities. It is in the big cities that the challenges facing the education system — low achievement, political conflict, inexperienced teachers, and high student mobility — are most pronounced. Thus, every debate about testing, accountability, busing, vouchers, social promotion, class size, and achievement gaps among children from different racial and economic backgrounds is in large part a debate about urban public education.

An increasing number of cities are tackling education reform on a district-wide rather than a school-by-school basis. Though much research and discussion has been devoted to the question of what makes an effective school, relatively little is known about what makes an effective district, about whether district-level changes can affect the performance of individual schools, and about the connection between central office policies and teaching and learning in the classroom. The Foundations for Success study helps fill this knowledge gap by suggesting hypotheses about possible sources of success in urban districts that have managed not only to raise student achievement overall but also to shrink racial and economic disparities in achievement levels.