"I'm now fluent in the language of school reform," Lisa Lineweaver says. "I took courses in law, public policy, and business--all the contexts that affect education." As a senior program officer at the Boston Plan for Excellence, Lisa is putting that interdisciplinary approach to work supporting whole-school improvement in Boston Public Schools. The BPE is a non-profit partner that acts as both a critical friend and a set of helping hands for BPS. She manages a network of 26 "Effective Practice Schools" and is supporting a pilot partnership with the BPS budget office that will give those schools some budget flexibility in exchange for high student and teacher performance.