The efforts of two pilot accelerated schools serving poor and minority students are evaluated in this report. A program goal was to integrate improvement at the school and community levels. Section 1 briefly describes the attitudes and meanings predominant in schools serving poor and minority youth. The focus on the individual, a narrow view of learning, and the hierarchical school structure is attributed to the technological mindset of American education. Section 2 applies the philosophy of John Dewey to create an alternative understanding of schooling as a collective, humanistic process of creating knowledge through practice and reflection. The third section shows how a process of inquiry based on the Deweyan values of participation, communication, reflection, and experimentation can transform school meanings and beliefs. The implementation of the inquiry process in two pilot schools is described in section 4. The final section discusses behavioral and attitudinal changes and continuing challenges to educational innovation. Extensive references are included in footnote format. (LMI)