School barriers to equal access need to be removed by fundamentally new policy initiatives at the state and district levels in order to assure educational opportunities for at-risk students. Gender, race, poverty and individual disabilities continue to generate barriers for at-risk students despite broad legal efforts at reform. The following school practices must still be addressed: (1) testing; (2) grouping and tracking; (3) curriculum and instruction; and (4) school organization and administration. The following policy approaches would overcome resistance to reform and permit educators and policymakers to work together: (1) place equal educational access high on the public policy agenda; (2) eliminate race and gender bias; (3) upgrade teaching and increase disadvantaged student access to highly qualified teachers; (4) alter formulas for compensatory education to account for the impact of poverty; (5) eliminate rewards for assessing and labeling students on the basis of social and/or personal predispositions; (6) develop model, integrated curricula and instructional strategies suitable for diverse students; (7) provide incentives for schools to forge non-traditional alliances among schools, families and communities; (8) join forces with all those who have a stake in schools, including universities, social service agencies, and the private sector; (9) deregulate schools and build capacity for improvement; (10) hold schools accountable for both equity and learning; and (11) marshal new resources and reconfigure existing ones. A 15-item bibliography is appended. (FMW)