At the conference on American high school reform sponsored by the Council for Basic Education, three themes emerged: (1) the problems facing secondary schools have been accurately identified; (2) educators know the solutions; and (3) what is needed is the political will to implement what is known. At the conference, Professor Chester Finn described the history of American high school reform as essentially a movement between the academic objective, in which scholastic achievement is foremost; and the social objective, which considers the school responsible for the child's personal, economic, and social success. Emphasis on the latter objective has led to false expectations, in that the schools are expected to teach so much and end up teaching little. This fact was corroborated in conference participants' reports that businesses, in order to accomplish work done badly by the high schools, provide training programs for employees. Secondary school reform must stress academic improvement. The literature on school effectiveness provides information on practices that work; among these, administrator skills and educational philosophy are of primary importance. Ultimately, however, high school reform is largely a matter of political will, manifested in a shared commitment to reform within the school district and the community. (Author/MJL)