This session's presenter will preview his forthcoming ASCD book, Schooling by Design, by exploring its key questions: What is a suitable mission of schooling and how should it influence educational practice? How can leaders use backward design to enhance school improvement planning? What are observable indicators of an understanding-based classroom, school, and district? How should principles of learning influence our work? How might we "walk the talk" and apply standards to our own work in curriculum, assessment, and instruction? What performance data (beyond state and standardized test scores) can guide school and district improvement efforts? In what ways can all elements of a system align to sustain standards-based reforms? How might we overcome prevailing, yet unproductive, habits of schooling?