Dr. Ted Spear started his own independent school because he was impatient with what he believed to be the shortcomings of our contemporary system. He was frustrated by the structural faults in our current educational model that make it difficult-despite the best intentions of teachers and administrators-to offer students an education that is worthy of the name. He believes, for example, that our assessment system, which celebrates the "good" student and disenfranchises the "bad," decisively fails to discover and develop the unique strengths and interests of not only the disenfranchised but of all our students. The result, he says, is a colossal waste of the human spirit. Spear argues that the fundamental purpose of K-12 education is "to equip and inspire students to cultivate their humanity." His thought-provoking book is both a clarion calland a practical guidefor making schools more powerful, authentic, and worthwhile than they have ever been. Building on his experience creating and running an innovative and highly successful school, Spear describes the structural and operational changes that can make the dream of "authentic education" a reality. This is a must-read book for parents who want more powerful schools for their kids, and for educators who know something is not quite right with the current state of affairs but cannot quite put their finger on the problem. For parents, it lifts the veil on the challenges and possibilities of contemporary education and recruits them as essential allies in improving schools. For educators, it shows them the operational changes they can make that will untie their hands so they can follow their deepest intuitions about what they know to be most important about grade school education. It is a book that will change the way we think about schools.