President Obama has on a number of occasions rejected policies that have been tried anddo not work. Legislation such as No Child Left Behind and policies such as Race to theTop are neither effective nor based on sound research. Educational policy-making isnow, more than ever, the preserve of politicians, advocacy foundations, and lobbyistsparading as corporate leaders. Teachers have little voice; their role is merely to be heldresponsible for policies foisted upon them.In Transforming Schools: Alternative Perspectives on School Reform, our aim is toprovide alternative perspectives to the dead-end educational policies by which ourgovernments have become consumed. We turn the spotlight on a select range of topicsthat have become the focus of concern and we consider the implications for school improvement. These topics includeschool reform in general, the achievement gap, literacy, standardized assessment, social justice and ecojustice, aestheticand moral education, and general education.