ABSTRACT
Never in the history of American education has the potential for fundamental reform been as great. However, it is by no means certain that the potential for reform will be realized. Changes will take place, but will these changes actually make a difference in the school success of large numbers of children? For this to happen, the nearly 3 million teachers in U.S. schools will have to learn and regularly apply very different and far more effective instructional methods than those they use now. School organization, assessment, grouping, and many other aspects of schooling will have to change. The systemic changes happening at many levels of government are creating a fast-rising demand for high-quality, sustained professional development, particularly the professional development needed for schools to adopt proven models of school change. Yet the national infrastructure for professional development of this kind is quite limited.
