Chicago educators are countering anonymity with smaller schools that have been restructured and "recultured" into small learning communities stressing personalized instruction, high student visibility, and teacher collaboration. Since the mid-1990s, 130 small-design elementary and secondary schools serving 42,000 students have been…

George A. Wingate High School in Brooklyn, NY, is considered a model of urban education. The principal believes good teaching is being able to make learning relevant to the lives of the students, and he communicates this belief to the faculty, staff, and students. (Author/MLF)