This book moves beyond the rhetoric surrounding the basic skills debate by providing a thorough yet critical examination of urban education, urban school reform, and teachers' work culture.

Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Crisis Tendencies in Urban Education 2. Teachers and Crisis: Teachers' Work Culture in Sociohistorical Perspective 3. Teachers and Basic Skills Restructuring in Midstate 4. Teachers and Basic Skills Restructuring in Urbanville 5. Role Formalization and "Playing the Game" in Urbanville Schools 6. "Classroom Management" in the Basic Skills Era 7. Beyond the Crisis of Urban Schooling; Notes; Index