Aligned with the work of William Glasser, M.D. (he mentions Crawford in his book CONTROL THEORY IN THE CLASSROOM), Crawford created this title originally as a short booklet for her own students. Crawford's work fits within the broad pedagogical and psychological frameworks erected by people like Viktor Frankl, Constance Kamii, Marjorie Kostelnik, Alfie Kohn, and Marilyn Burns. She believes that students do best when they take ownership of their own learning careers and when their teachers provide built-in opportunities for choice and differentiation in units, assignments, and work structures.