Looking for good writing about public high schools

I have not found much good writing about public schools, especially high schools. Newspapers and magazines seem to be talking about schools from miles away, as if they visit once a year, and are far too quick to hype miracle schools. Academic texts, though often right on about how students actually learn, don't provide much insight into the practical realities (or even just the experience) of handling 100 students or more for 180 days. And professional development for teachers is just one random matrix after another.

So I'd like to use this site as a log of my search for interesting writing about schools, to solicit suggestions from any readers, and to react to the not-quite-right analysis we see most everyday.

Speaking of not-quite-right analysis, here's one from today's Slate by University of Virginia law professor Jim Ryan. I can't question the man's erudition and his book sounds like it might be good (if one can judge by the title), but the prescriptions or the overall tone here feels musty. He's right about the more absurd elements of No Child Left Behind and he's right that teacher prestige is very important, but his suggestions for things that would directly affect the atmosphere at a public high school (hypothetical pay raise, a federal teaching program somehow based on Teach for America) seem a little meager.

Let me know what you think.