Book excerpt: This timely volume reveals in great detail how educators closed the “performance gap” for low-income students by linking expectations and results. Drawing heavily on the words and experiences of students, teachers, and parents, this book describes how students who traditionally had not succeeded academically in school began to do so. Effort and Excellence in Urban Classrooms demonstrates just how this was done by including: In-depth descriptions of classrooms and schools where students began succeeding when educators assumed the responsibility for their successData-based discussion of teachers’ views on parental involvement in schools and parents’ views of teachers’ and schools’ actions on behalf of studentsIdentification of the kinds of support that schools and districts must provide if educators are to be successfulAn unrelenting emphasis on how educators enabled students to be motivated and to produce high-quality work “At last, a book that helps us see and feel what a ‘no excuses’ approach to teaching is like in urban classrooms! This close look at teachers and students in high-poverty settings gives new meaning to ‘all children can learn.’ A must read for those who are serious about closing the achievement gap.” —Michael S. Knapp, Center for the Study of Teaching & Policy, University of Washington