Toward equality of educational opportunity: What’s most promising?

Arthur E. Wise, a longtime advocate for K-12 school improvement, reviews 50 years of efforts to promote equal educational opportunities for all children, describing the pros and cons of three main reform strategies: lawsuits focused on funding equity, which have had some success; the standards and accountability movement, which has not; and teacher professionalism, which has immense promise but has yet to be pursued with the commitment it deserves.