Chartering Urban School Reform: Reflections on Public High Schools in the Midst of Change. Michelle Fine

The school restructuring movement has matured to the point that researchers have a better idea of the most productive questions to ask, the best people to ask them of, and the most appropriate methods to collect data that illuminate the questions. Michelle Fine's Chartering Urban School Reform: Reflections on Public High Schools in the Midst of Change is a fine example of this. Collectively, the authors in this book ask the right questions of a wide variety of people, using solid ethnographic research methods. The book is valuable because it provides a vivid description of one restructuring initiative through the voices of teachers, university professors, and educators affiliated with nonprofit organizations. The book provides evidence, not just a statement of belief, that small is better when educating students, and that reflection and inquiry make a difference in the working conditions of teachers, but, most important, in the lives of students.