This volume offers nine chapters on focal issues in current urban education that are of a middle-range of abstraction and have long-term consequences for students. Individual chapters provide examples of possible interventions appropriate to the unique context of urban schools. The following chapters correspond to nine problems of practice, which emerged from a systematic application of the Nominal Group Technique in which the nominal group was an invited gathering of 10 principals of urban schools, 6 representatives of metropolitan youth-serving agencies, and 7 educational administration faculty members for universities serving urban communities: (1) "Understanding the Urban Context and Conditions of Practice of School Administration" (Richard M. Englert); (2) "Motivating Urban Children To Learn" (Patrick B. Forsyth); (3) "Managing Instructional Diversity" (Linda F. Winfield, Ruth Johnson, and Joanne B. Manning); (4) "Building Open Climates in Urban Schools" (James R. Bliss); (5) "Collecting and Using Information for Problem Solving and Decision Making" (Robert O. Slater); (6) "Acquiring and Using Resources" (Laurance Parker); (7) "Governing Urban Schools" (Marilyn Tallerico); (8) "Effecting Change in Urban Schools" (William J. Kritek); and (9) "Establishing the Mission, Vision, and Goals" (Robert T. Stout). Each paper is accompanied by its own references. (JB)