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As media reports declare crisis after crisis in public education, Americans find themselves hotly debating educational inequalities that seem to violate their nation's ideals. Why does success in school track so closely with race and socioeconomic status? How to end these apparent achievement gaps?In the Crossfirebrings historical perspective to these debates by tracing the life and work of Marcus Foster, an African American educator who struggled to reform urban schools in the 1960s and early 1970s. As a teacher, principal, and superintendent-first in his native Philadelphia and eventually in Oakland, California-Foster made success stories of urban schools and children whom others had dismissed as hopeless, only to be assassinated in 1973 by the previously unknown Symbionese Liberation Army in a bizarre protest against an allegedly racist school system. Foster's story encapsulates larger social changes in the decades after World War II: the great black migration from South to North, the civil rights movement, the decline of American cities, and the ever-increasing emphasis on education as a ticket to success. Well before the accountability agenda of the No Child Left Behind Act or the rise of charter schools, Americans came into sharp conflict over urban educational failure, with some blaming the schools and others pointing to conditions in homes and neighborhoods. By focusing on an educator who worked in the trenches and had a reputation for bridging divisions,In the Crossfiresheds new light on the continuing ideological debates over race, poverty, and achievement. Foster charted a course between the extremes of demanding too little and expecting too much of schools as agents of opportunity in America. He called for accountability not only from educators but also from families, taxpayers, and political and economic institutions. His effort to mobilize multiple constituencies was a key to his success-and a lesson for educators and policymakers who would take aim at achievement gaps without addressing the full range of school and nonschool factors that create them.

We sought to explore concepts of healthy diet and to elicit recommendations to support healthier eating among urban, low-income, African Americans. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 33 self-identified African American adults (18–81 years of age, 15 male participants) from a low-income neighborhood in west Philadelphia, PA, during summer and fall 2008. Our qualitative approach was continuous, iterative and thematic considering gender, age category, and participants’ “mentions” of fast-food and fruit-and-vegetable intake from the preceding day. We found that participants shared concepts about broad nutritional principles consistent with national dietary recommendations, but disagreed about the healthfulness of specific foods—e.g. meat. On average—with little variation—participants reported eating >2 “mentions” more of fast foods the preceding day than fruits and vegetables ( P  < 0.001). Suggested strategies to help promote eating more produce included increasing exposure, advertising, affordability, and local availability (vice versa to limit fast-food consumption), and more education on the health effects of diet and how to find and prepare healthy foods. Women’s ideas reflected their roles in food shopping and food preparation; otherwise, participants’ ideas did not differ appreciably by gender or age. Overall, participants generally expressed sufficient understanding of nutritional principles to eat healthfully, but disagreed about the healthfulness of specific foods and described largely unhealthy dietary consumption from the preceding day. If poor dietary intake results from barriers to recognizing, purchasing, and preparing healthy foods, then participants’ suggestions to increase education and modify the environment may lead to improved diets and better health in the community.

In recent years, interim assessments have become an increasingly popular tool in districts seeking to improve student learning and achievement. Philadelphia has been at the forefront of this change, implementing a set of Benchmark assessments aligned with its Core Curriculum district-wide in 2004. In this article, we examine the overall context for Benchmarks in Philadelphia, the expectations district leaders had for the use of those Benchmarks, the supports put in place to assist those in schools in meeting those expectations, and the challenges encountered in that implementation.

Within a large city… it would be most unwise to attempt to say what is the correct curriculum or organization of all the high schools under the management of the city school board… I am convinced American secondary education can be made satisfactory without any radical changes in the basic pattern. This can only be done, however, if the citizens in many localities display sufficient interest in their schools and are willing to support them. The improvement must come school by school and be made with due regard for the nature of the community (Dr. James Conant, The American High School Today, 1959). Educational opportunity must be equal for all young people, regardless of the neighborhood they live in and the school they attend (Dr. Ruth Wright Hayre, Principal, William Penn High School for Girls, 1961).