Four conditions for creating or refining alternative teacher certification programs are improving instruction, addressing shortages of qualified teachers, placing teachers in hard-to-staff schools, and measuring teacher competence. Programs should be pragmatic, market sensitive, embedded in the learning context, and performance driven. (SK)

The author argues in favor of "educational engineers" being grounded in the philosophies of education to understand the social meanings of the ideas with which they work. The leaders must set for themselves a long, continued study of the techniques that will make the idea operate in the learning situation. (CT)

Alternative teacher credentialing should be evaluated in terms of its effectiveness in improving the quality of education cost effectively, attracting high quality and more diverse teachers, and forging closer links between teacher education reform and elementary-secondary school improvement. (SK)

Jumpstart is a growing literacy program that is now active in 17 states in addition to the District of Columbia. The Jumpstart Model pairs children of low-income families with college mentors in the child's typical learning environment. Despite the prevalence and importance of Jumpstart, little has been written about either the general model of…

The purpose of this research was to determine how teachers and administrators in a successful North Carolina district perceived the purpose and value of a school improvement plan (SIP) and the planning process. The SIP is the accepted best practice for school-wide improvement, and the perceptions of the purpose and value of the process…