A door just on street-- I, lost, was passing by-- An instant's width of warmth disclosed And wealth, and company. door as sudden shut, and I, I, lost, was passing by,-- Lost doubly, but by contrast most, Enlightening misery. --Emily Dickinson What does it mean be lost? I think of my son as toddler escaping from my line of vision wander around crowded, yet blessedly sealed (Code Yellow), department store, as I and several employees searched the premises. Waves of what I should have done, could have done, and would do in the future monitor my child's whereabouts battered my psyche but were soon quieted by the welcome relief of finding him safely engrossed in the self-appointed business of sweeping dressing room in the Juniors' Department. One moment he was safely at my side; the next he was gone. One moment my assumptions regarding that evening's priorities and purposes were intact; the next moment they were turned on their heads. My child's experience of being lost was very different from my own. For Jacob, slipping through a door just opened enjoy the wealth and company of new experiences (i.e., running, chatting and grown cleaning) yielded adventure, an opportunity gather new perspectives. Perhaps I and others can learn from him. While the terror of parents being separated from children is never desirable, some dispositions of lostness, such as willingness engage with ambiguity or perceive as an outsider are not such bad thing. Although uncomfortable, it is often during periods of cognitive and affective limbo that our unconscious assumptions emerge. Startled from status quo slumber, we are more willing entertain need for change, better able construct new possibilities when contrasts between our current realities and the perceptions of others are recognized and negotiated. Many of this issue's authors require readers step away from widely held assumptions within education and society--perhaps even engage in moments of misery enlightened or spaces of lostness--for the benefit of the common good. While some ask us re-envision particular priorities or resources for teacher education, others grapple with issues pertaining core structures, values and assumptions within mainstream American educational mindsets and practices. Within her thought provoking article The Procrustes's Bed and Standardization in Education, Youngjoo Kim explains that although the idea that the standardization of teaching for purposes of holding teachers, students and schools accountable for academic achievement, might at first appear act as an impetus for American educational progress, it carries with it wide range of serious problems. Kim illustrates that the assumption that standardized curricula meets the needs of unique individuals is ludicrous when she likens our current reliance on high stakes tests myth studied during her undergraduate days, Procrustes's Bed. Within the myth's storyline, crazed monarch saws off the limbs of visitors who do not conform the dimensions of particular bed. Expanding this idea, Kim reveals that our current insistence on educational conformity is as unsuccessful as the mythical king's. Not only do our current practices fail honor the contexts of non-dominate cultures, but they also hinder the development of critical thinking and neglect content that cannot be measured. As Kim rightly points out, teachers are spending increasing amounts of time on things they predict will be tested the neglect of areas such as music, art, poetry, creative writing, social studies and cultural studies; all of which make up the fabric of our society's knowledge and prepare students to employ relational thinking in understanding their surrounding world. Rather than rely on uniformity and standardization, the author suggests that school becomes more meaningful and learners become more involved when democracy and diversity are at the center of our curricula and its implementation. …