Harvey Daniels has been a city and suburban classroom teacher, and now serves as professor of reading, language, secondary education and interdisciplinary studies at National-Louis University in Chicago. In language arts, Smokey is best known for his work on student book clubs, as recounted in Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in Book Clubs and Reading Groups, and his new title, Minilessons for Literature Circles. Daniels is also co-author of Subjects Matter: Every Teacher's Guide to Content-Area Reading, which shows how students can better understand and remember what they read in science, math, and social studies, as well as English classes. Bringing together recent comprehension research with practical classroom strategies, Subjects Matter shows how schools can grow lifelong readers across the curriculum. Smokey also co-wrote A Community of Writers, which describes a balanced writing program, blending strong teacher-directed lessons with genuinely student-driven workshops.

Through the Center for City Schools, Harvey works with a network of 15 improving elementary schools in Chicago. In 1996, Daniels co-founded the city's first new high school in 30 years, named for and designed on the principles outlined in Best Practice: New Standards for Teaching and Learning in America's Schools. The growth of the school—along with an explicit template for any high school's growth—is offered in Rethinking High School: Best Practice in Teaching, Learning and Leadership. The book, along with its companion video, is used around the country by district and school teams working on major, long-term change strategies.