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<p>List of Video Clips vii</p> <p>Introduction 1</p> <p>1 WHY? What’s Wrong with American Schools? 7</p> <p>2 HOW? Making School a Magical Place 19</p> <p>3 WHO? It’s All About the Adults 37</p> <p>4 FAST: Putting Adults and Children on the Fast Track 61</p> <p>5 RIGOR: Raising the Bar for Everybody 77</p> <p>6 READING: The Starting Point for All Else 95</p> <p>7 WRITING: Putting Ideas into the World with Elegance 123</p> <p>8 CALL TO ACTION: How to Make Every School a Success Academy 143</p> <p>Endnotes 149</p> <p>Acknowledgments 155</p> <p>About the Authors 157</p> <p>Index 159</p>

<p><b>Eva Moskowitz</b> is the Founder and CEO of the Success Academy Charter Schools. A former New York City Council member, she has earned a national reputation as a fighter for improving public schools' rigor and resources, investing heavily in the arts, sports, and science instruction. Her first school, the Success Academy Harlem 1, quickly emerged as one of the top performing schools in New York State and was featured in <i>The Lottery</i> and <i>Waiting for Superman</i>.</p> <p><b>Arin Lavinia</b> designed and developed THINK Literacy, a common sense approach to balanced literacy.</p>

How can a charter school in the middle of Harlem emerge as one of the top schools in New York City and State in just three years? The Success Academies operate from the simple notion that principals and teachers—the adults—hold the keys to educational excellence. If adults improve their performance, set the bar high enough, and believe that children can rise to their expectations, students are propelled forward at lightning speed. <p><i>Mission Possible</i>, written by Founder and CEO of the Success Academy Charter Schools, Eva Moskowitz, and literacy expert, Arin Lavinia, offers practical, classroom-tested ideas for dramatically improving teaching and learning. Through detailed descriptions of how to keep students challenged and engaged, how to ensure that the adults are constantly learning, and how to use the Success Academies' THINK Literacy program, Moskowitz and Lavinia describe what can be accomplished when schools shift their focus to improving the adults' performance. The included companion DVD provides clips and interviews, illustrating how any school can be transformed to achieve remarkable results.</p> <p>"The authors describe their schools as places defined by 'joyful rigor.' Having visited a Success Academy, I can attest to that. If we are going to change the odds for children living in poverty, we need to create more opportunities to replicate what is working at places like Success Academies. This book does just that, taking the best practices from the Success Academies and creating a framework for educators, parents, and policy-makers to learn from their successes."<br /> —<b>Senator Michael F. Bennet</b>, Colorado</p> <p>"<i>Mission Possible</i> is a testament to what can be achieved in public education when the focus shifts to improving rigor in instruction and continuing education for teachers and principals."<br /> —<b>Doug Lemov</b>, managing director, Uncommon Schools; author, <i>Teach Like a Champion</i></p>

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