The Commission on Master Teachers shares the results of its study and deliberations on career ladders in teaching by examining assumptions, recalling facts about educational change, and posing critical questions in regard to the purpose, design, process, and support needed to establish a school district career ladder staffing arrangement. Proposed career ladder plans are briefly reviewed, and, for illustrative purposes only, a four-stage career ladder for teachers is presented. The model includes these stages: teacher, associate teacher, senior teacher, and master teacher; and it specifies that the criteria and procedures for promotion be clearly stated and objectively measurable. A salary index rewards teachers as they advance from one step to the next. Other parts of the reward system are aspects of the job, the working environment, status, recognition, job responsibilities, and professional growth possibilities. A bibliography with nine citations is appended. (MLF)