The Massachusetts charter movement facilitated Boston's development of pilot schools (in-district charters), which posed a dilemma for staff, students, board members, and codirectors of Fenway Middle College High School. A year later, a coalition of pilot school leaders is glad they stayed in the system and pursued high-level educational…

South Carolina's Teacher Cadet Program, an "experiencing education" class offered to proficient high school students, is helping attract top students to teaching and is renewing teachers without exhausting them. The course enables students and teachers to engage in profound discussions about growing up and stimulates critical analysis of…

Responding to local businesses' negative comments about area graduates' capabilities, White Plains (New York) Public Schools initiated a pilot work-based-learning program that clearly specified connections between high-school and workplace learning. Five case studies illustrate program goals achieved via individualized apprenticeship plans…

Explores the progress of Fenway Middle College High School, in its third year as a Boston pilot school (an in-district charter-school alternative). Significant areas of autonomy remain untested. Fenway learned the value of an experienced, caring, diverse faculty; networking and reorganization opportunities; and idealism to counter "bigger is…

The Carnegie structure, involving seven-period days and nine different locations daily, is an ineffective system. The Copernican plan changes school scheduling by lengthening instructional periods for fewer and smaller classes. The system should improve teacher-student relationships, lighten workloads, and introduce innovative evaluation and…