Drawing from his own remarkable experience as a veteran classroom teacher (still in the classroom), Ron Berger gives us a vision of educational reform that transcends standards, curriculum, and instructional strategies. He argues for a paradigm shift - a schoolwide embrace of an "ethic of excellence." A master carpenter as well as a gifted teacher, Berger is guided by a craftsman"s passion for quality, describing what"s possible when teachers, students, and parents commit to nothing less than the best. But Berger"s not just idealistic, he"s realistic - he tells exactly how this can be done, from the blackboard to the blacktop to the school boardroom.