While there is much debate about whether there exists a crisis in American education, there is no significant doubt about two facts: urban schools perform less successfully than suburban schools and minority students perform less well than their non-minority peers. We must improve urban education and minority achievement. The Maryland Institute for Minority Achievement and Urban Education is an academic association, an action-oriented collaborative, and an educational center. Its central goals are the improvement of minority achievement, the elimination of the achievement gap, and the improvement and reform of urban education.