First Published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Here's an extremely valuable contribution to the vitally important but perplexing problem of how to ease the transition of young people from school to the world of work. Practical, thoughtful, and wise, this is a valuable guide for practitioners as well as policy makers. -- Robert B. Reich, Former Secretary of Labor, Professor at Brandeis University
If educators, business leaders or policy analysts miss this book, they are ignoring the most promising route to improving American high schools--the melding of improved academic learning, with actual experience in the workplace, in community service and in other realms. -- Harold Howe II, former United States Commissioner of Education
Drawing from research and from a fistful of telling examples, Steinberg and her colleagues make a convincing case for a powerful secondary education that is situated in real places as well as in traditional disciplines. This is an important book that tells the stories of better secondary schools and reminds us how complex and yet how commonsensical a sound education for adolescents can and must become. -- Theodore R. Sizer, founder and Chairman of the Coalition of Essential Schools
At last a book that has something for everyone who has ever thought about why we must reform high schools. This book should be required reading for teachers and principals in secondary schools throughout the country. -- Doris Alvarez, principal of Hoover High School, 1997 National Principal of the Year

Future in Boston. She has 30 years of experience in the education field and is a former editor of The Harvard Education Newsletter.