As children headed back to school Tuesday morning after their summer break, Mayor Michael Bloomberg kicked off his five-borough school tour.

Mayor Bloomberg says real change requires time, but he says some schools attained a dramatic progress in the last few years. In 2002, only a third of all fourth-grade students of one New York school met or exceeded grade level standards. This year, that number rose to seven in 10 students in math, and nearly half in English.

?Change is never revolutionary,? he says. ?It?s almost always evolutionary if it?s going to be real change that sticks.? In order to keep New York schools on the right track, the New York Department of Education is offering new resources for parents.

Bloomberg says all parents will receive a guide called ?Great Expectations,? which details what their children will be learning from kindergarten through eighth grade - from shapes and colors to the Great Depression.

?It's extremely important that parents and children and staff all work together,? says Councilman Robert Jackson (R), chairman of the city?s education committee.