SUMMARY
School reform policy imposed by state and federal governments have created incredibly complex “solutions” for improving schools, rather than focusing on meaningful improvement efforts such as building relationships with students, increasing communication with parents, and providing instructional supervision that helps innovate teaching. Additionally, there appears to be a widening gap between theory and practice, as educational research often focuses on doing work about public schools, rather than doing work for public schools. To help close this gap, the author suggest practitioners and researchers reexamine their relationship to work together, produce scholarly work that is practical, contextual, and accessible, and address real issues of social justice. By working together, practitioners and researchers can push back against current accountability policies and create innovate instructional strategies and practices.