Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Beverly Hall speaking at Webster Univ. on Mar. 5 (Eddie Roth/Post-Dispatch)

Three in four students enrolled in the school district are from low-income households and are eligible for free or reduced-price meals.

The Board of Education just appointed its fifth superintendent in 10 years. A devoted cadre of cable television viewers followed the board meetings, tuning in to watch the raucous sideshow.

The district, meanwhile, rated lowest in the state in academic achievement, by a wide margin. Fewer than half of its fourth-graders met or exceeded standards in reading. The graduation rate, districtwide, was below 40 percent, and absenteeism was high at all levels of the system.

The public finally said “enough is enough is enough.”

Except for this last part, the part about public commitment, we could be talking about St. Louis Public Schools. But the description fit the Atlanta Public Schools in 1999, when Beverly Hall took over as the district’s superintendent.

Ms. Hall spoke at Webster University on Thursday evening as part of its program on educational leadership. Leaders from many districts were on hand, eager to hear her remarks. The 60-year-old Jamaican-born educator is a star in her field, recently named the nation’s best superintendent by the American Association of School Administrators.

Around the nation, frustrated parents and public officials often look for a “magic bullet” for fixing distressed urban school districts. Ms. Hall’s message is that there is no magic bullet, but what she called a “full-court press,” a strategic approach and civic state of mind she believes has led to improvements in her district.

That progress includes a graduation rate that now exceeds 80 percent and drastically improved attendance. Among 11 urban districts studied in a recent national survey, Atlanta’s was the only one to “demonstrate significant improvement in all grades and test areas — reading, writing, math — since 2002-2003.”

The full-court press Ms. Hall calls for is based on just a few fundamentals. First is the principle that deeds, not words, bring reform — “not just saying it, but making the eduction of children the Number 1 priority … above power struggles, political whims and practitioner or parental excuses.”

Simply put, Ms. Hall believes it takes 10 to 15 years of unrelenting pressure to transform an urban school district. She thinks the job in Atlanta is just two-thirds complete. Unlike some other public education officials here and nationwide, she’s not afraid of charter schools. She believes quality charter schools — independent schools funded with state money — invariably quicken the competitive spirit and performance of traditional schools.

She cited three conditions that most contributed to improvements in Atlanta:

• Civic support. Ms. Hall says the progress in the schools would not have occurred without the extraordinary engagement of Atlanta’s business community and civic leadership, without which, she said, she would not have lasted a year as superintendent. Local leaders have delivered resources the schools need and lobbied for legal reforms that have transformed the board of education into a credible and productive overseer.

• Focus on instruction. “It’s what happens between teacher and child; ultimately, that’s going to bring about the learning that we want,” Ms. Hall said. She starts with the lowest-achieving schools first. She believes superb, well-supported teaching can overcome poverty and family dysfunction, so she dedicates every possible effort and every available resource to hiring the best teachers and following and supporting them.

• Education leadership. Ms. Hall says she appreciates principals who are good managers, but cherishes those who are good leaders. Managing business operations and managing logistics are important, as is dealing with the community and parents. But what best advances the cause of children’s education are principals who can lead, inspire and develop teachers.

Ms. Hall’s talk at Webster University thus poses a question and offers a framework that this community must consider: When will we say enough is enough? When do we put on the full-court press?