Sustainable reform does not just happen. It requires leaders to create space for practitioners to determine the root causes of problems and then identify and experiment with viable solutions. Unfortunately, there is often a significant gap between theory and the realities of putting theory into practice. Leaders at this site and district believe strongly in practioner-inclusive efforts to reform systems, but they are also emersed in daily operations. This presentation examines the realities of research on school improvement within the context of a school implementing suggested practices. It is firmly grounded in the research around best-practices, but it examines both successes and failures at a strong school in an authentic and thought-provoking way. It does not provide solutions, but it creates space to ask the right questions.