Reform versus Dreams provides a genuine example of how problem solving happens best in public education. Creative and committed teachers were asked to put their minds to designing a system that would provide a safe environment for learning and encourage all students – regardless of their background – to reach high achievement. Smartly, the teachers turned to research and used proven techniques to build a successful model. The book takes the next natural step to show the reader how he or she can achieve similar success. This book is a marvelous addition to any educator’s library and any school innovator’s toolbox for positive change.
Edwin C. Darden Just in time!  This intriguing book, Reform versus Dreams: Preventing Student Failure, arrived with exactly what these changing times in education need: important reminders.  The book reminds educators of the urgency to meet the learning and social-emotional needs of disinterested, unmotivated, low performing, and even defiant students.  The author reminds readers of the importance of looking to tested practice and research and not just to 'this year’s new thing.'  Reform versus Dreams reminds educators that data-driven professional collaborative inquiry and problem solving, ongoing daily professional learning, and decisive and sometimes unconventional actions are essential components to any school improvement efforts.
Bobb Darnell, Achievement Strategies, Inc. Rosalind’s first-hand description of the research-based process for reforming a school is an excellent example for all of us.  She highlights the challenges as well as the key steps and rationale for decision making. She cites the research that guided the school team's planning toward helping not only 16 at-risk students, but the other students who joined the special program that made a huge difference in all their lives.
Deanna Woods, Education Consultant and Trainer In an era of almost continuous school improvement schemes, LaRocque examines school reform within the context of student needs, teacher-designed plans, and definitions of ‘success’ that include more than high test scores. The book examines how Integrated Learning Teams (ILTs) were used to help improve the performance of a group of at-risk, low-performing high school students. While information is provided about how the ILTs were set up, the book concentrates on how collaborative efforts can be used to assist defiant, disobedient, and disinterested students. Specifically, it presents a system used by the teachers involved in the study. This system considers knowledge about the students, the essential curriculum, instructional delivery, professional development, and conditions necessary for quality implementation. Implementation of this system is examined, including thoughts on scheduling, lesson design, incentives, partnerships, and funding. Data provided show the outcomes of the system, as well as reflections regarding the experience from those involved. A series of appendixes provide examples of documents used during the process, including letters to parents, classroom rules, schedules, and budgets. A good complement to Larry Cuban's As Good as It Gets: What School Reform Brought to Austin (CH, Oct'10, 48-1007). Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. 
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