Alternative high schools have an important place in our educational system, since exellence in education must mean more than improving the abilities of those who are succeeding in our present school environment. A list of suggestions (nine "dos" and four "don'ts") are offered for consideration before establishing such a school. (MCG)

Immediate steps must be taken to construct a plan to help middle school students make the transition to the high school. A Program Evaluation and Review Technique model for helping to construct such an articulation plan is provided in this article, and program sequence and timeline charts are included. (DCS)

The literature suggests collaborative planning is purely egalitarian, but this article identifies a form called "dialectical collaboration" providing situationally determined variations in the locus of control. One district's experience planning an administrators' inservice program illustrates dialectical collaboration. The authors urge…

Describes in sequence the key considerations involved in planning an effective program for communications among a school's staff members. Covers program goals, communications needs analysis, responsibility, credibility, communications rights of employees, necessary attitudes, planning steps, appropriate channels and network patterns,…

Describes current attitudes toward staff development through inservice education, the need to coordinate staff evaluation and inservice programs, and the leadership required of administrators and committees. Particular attention is paid to basing inservice programs on needs expressed by teachers. The program followed in Fort Lee (New Jersey) is…

This brief discussion of basic administrative postures may help principals direct their schools' efforts to cope with minimum competency regulations. (Author)

Developing, launching, and maintaining an assessment center plan requires continuous attention to three essential ingredients: communication, education, and politics. The four key considerations in developing a master plan are costs, scheduling, sources of funding, and terms of the agreement required by NASSP. A sample agreement is provided. (TE)

According to this model for effective professional growth programs for teachers, teachers and their supervisors must independently identify the teachers' growth needs, must agree on the needs, and must mutually develop a program that is appropriate, demands supervisor responsiveness, and is well-received by the teacher. (PGD)

Thirteen ideas for marketing and implementing the assessment center concept are presented. These call for a primary focus on individuals and on excellence, preparation and organization, assessor training, assessor newsletters, accessible locations, a statewide advisory board, an action plan, confidentiality, both causal and formal meetings,…

Middle level education needs personnel specifically educated for and committed to working with the middle level age group and program, and this requires the development of sound middle level teacher certification requirements and programs. (Author/DCS)