What School Should Be is snapshots of great education in practice. Ackerly, a writer who has spent over fifty years as a teacher, principal, parent and grandparent, shows children, teachers, parents and principals in action illustrating the elements of school culture necessary for delivering good education.

Over and over, for or more than a century, “blue ribbon” task forces have been formed to improve America’s public schools. All these efforts have failed –and in some cases made things even worse—because of a failure to understand children and mistaken notions about education. The delivery system for education is not curriculum, standards, textbooks, or the shape of the classroom. The delivery system for education is the culture of the school and the culture of American Schools hasn’t changed much since Mark Twain said, “I never let my schooling interfere with my education.”

Ackerly’s stories of teachers, students and principals at work show what good education looks like and lay out the elements of good educational cultures.