Acknowledgments

We also wish to sincerely thank the district leaders and educators of Pass Christian High and Middle Schools in Pass Christian, MS; North Godwin Elementary in Wyoming, MI; Summit Charter Academy in Modesto, CA; and the Jennings School District in Jennings, MO. The educators in these high-poverty school districts opened their doors to allow us to capture on video the inner workings of their journeys to high performance and contributed numerous creative ideas that found their way into this book. We also wish to thank Ken Cornwell, Carmen Yuhas, and the ASCD film crew for their efforts to bring life to these schools' success stories.

In the past three years, we experienced the opportunity to interact with hundreds of educators in schools and school districts through extended visits to share our ideas and garner critique. Tracey J. Adesegun, Tina Alsop, Meridith Bang, Krista Barton-Arnold, Beth Bellipanni, Nicki Blake, Heidi Curry, Haleigh Cuveas, Mike Hansen, Bill Fetterhoff, Marian Reimer Friesen, Beth John, Robin Killebrew, Paula Kucinic, Mary Lang, Ivan Lorentzen, Madoda Mahlutshana, Bill McDonald, Joni Miller, Joe Morlock, Joe Nelson, Jamey Olney, Anthony Robinson, Mike Root, Tracy Sandstrom, Taylora Schlosser, Tim Sullivan, and Marie Verhaas are among the many dedicated educators who have pushed our thinking. Your experiences and insights have significantly expanded our understanding of, and appreciation for, the complexity of disrupting poverty.

We are particularly indebted to the support of so many at ASCD who have helped us with this and other related projects, beginning with Genny Ostertag, acquistions expert and our ever-present cheerleader. Genny's calming persistence, gentle support, and thoughtful guidance helped us throughout the conceptualization and writing process. A debt of gratitude goes to Darcie Russell, our editor extraordinaire whose steady encouragement, precise critique, thoughtful editing, and kindness guided this book to the presses. Darcie provided us with an encore as the finest production editor with whom we have ever had the pleasure of working. A big thank you goes to Stefani Roth, our publisher, who assisted us in ways she may not really know through her ever-present interest, smiles, and encouragement. We are also grateful to Sherida Britt, Lori Brown, Debbie Brown, Susan Race, Jim Hemgen, and Klea Scharberg for connecting us with schools and practitioners through institutes, pre-conference sessions, and other ASCD presentations that allowed us to pilot ideas and receive important and timely feedback. Finally, we extend our heartfelt thanks to the members of the ASCD Disrupting Poverty Cadre, including Tammy Alexander, Tiffany Anderson, Grant Chandler, Arelis Diaz, Margo Healy, Jay Gary, Michelle Kyrnicki, and Carmen Macchia, all of whose expertise and experience has been invaluable in supporting others to disrupt poverty.

A special word of gratitude goes to associates, colleagues, or mentors whose work informed this book in ways they may not have known, including Robert Barr, Donna Beegle, Alan Boyle, Karen Chenoweth, Michael Copland, Michael Fullan, Paul Gorski, Pete Hall, Katie Haycock, Lisa Lande, Patricia McRae, Mary Metcalfe, Dave and Clara Molden, Russ Quaglia, Roger Quarles, Joann Quinn, Rick Stiggins, Stephen Stroka, Shelly Wilburn, Katsuhiko Yamashita, and Pattrick Yockey. Each person individually influenced our work. Some pushed our thinking as scholars and others helped us with multiple connections and opportunities throughout this particular endeavor by offering ideas, creative support, and endless patience and encouragement. We are indebted to you all.

Several colleagues and friends at Boise State University were always there to support us in this effort. They include the staff of the Center for School Improvement and Policy Studies, particularly Associate Director Kimberly Barnes, Business and HR Manager Abbey Denton, Project Coordinator Kelli Burnham, Administrative Assistant Ashley Oram, and Student Assistant Emma Thompson. In addition, we are deeply indebted to Liesl Milan, our most able doctoral research assistant who answered our calls and responded to our text messages despite the hour of the day or complexity of the request. Her support greatly contributed to the manuscript. We are also grateful for the encouragement and support of Dean Rich Osguthorpe, Associate Dean Keith Thiede, Associate Dean Jennifer Snow, and Department Chair Phil Kelly.

Finally, we are forever indebted to our close friend and colleague Larry Burke, our perpetual preproduction editor and "detail guy" who continuously improved our writing and provided invaluable suggestions for structure, format, creative adaptations, and flow.

Last and most important, we want to thank our children and their partners for their love and support: Nathaniel and Lindsey, Mia and Ahijah, Katrina and A.J., and Jonathan and Elsa.