It looks like this book is going to be the latest “it” book on urban education. And while the thesis is profound and important, I just have to hope that the message principals receive is that this task, of forming teams, of working together, or ensuring instructional coherence, has to be in place of other activities.

What I see happening in most Philly schools is a principal hearing about this (or more likely a region person) and adding another meeting and another set of responsibilities to already overburdened teachers. The “Christmas tree” approach — yeah, we’ll have that too…