Basically, the no excuses schools pay meticulous attention to behavior and attitudes. They teach students how to look at the person who is talking, how to shake hands. These schools are academically rigorous and college-focused.

Harlem Children's Zone, a holistic system of education, social-service and community-building programs aimed at helping the children and families in a 97-block area of Central Harlem, produces results that we are looking for in education. The results are measurable, significant, and life-changing for the students and provides hopeful evidence that our educational system can be reformed. [http://www.hcz.org/programs]