Teachers who work with students who have mental illnesses face day-to-day challenges and high burnout rates. In this article, Jeffrey Benson argues that messages about teacher self-care and resiliency are not enough. Instead, the structures must change--by way of clinical consultations, mentorships, and in-school support systems--to best serve…

Richard DuFour, a leading advocate for creating professional learning communities in schools, shares his insights on why teaching has become an "embattled profession" and the steps teachers and school leaders can take to enhance teachers' practice and their working lives. DuFour explains how recent reforms aimed at educators themselves…

Describes how to choose a consultant and what to expect of him, as well as consultee responsibility. (GB)

The instructional auditor reviews school district policies, job descriptions, budget allocations, contract provisions, internal and external communications, instructional monitoring and delivery systems, elections, student characteristics, personnel characteristics, and administrative authority as these factors affect a district's instructional…

Several studies indicate the use of supervisors and consultants is effective when there is close contact with teachers in task oriented situations. (Author/RK)

A special type of meeting between a new school principal and the school staff resulted in clarification of concerns and expectations, reduction of stress, and establishment of the new leadership. (MLF)

Important effective coaching components include facilitating teachers' lesson analysis, encouraging alternative approaches, and conducting conferences in a nonjudgmental way. This survey suggests that many of these critical attributes are lacking or of dubious quality for one-third to one-half of PET-trained teachers in the sample. Includes 14…

After conducting 10 interviews with outstanding educators for the "Educational Leadership" portrait series, the author realized his subjects had more in common than extraordinary achievement. They shared patterns constituting a leitmotif in their careers--characteristics such as vision, tenacity, recursiveness, time commitment, and…

A group of professional staff developers committed individually to different movements cooperated to unite five varied programs: Instructional Theory into Practice (ITIP), thinking skills, cooperative learning, teaching styles and strategies, and reading and writing in the content areas. The group rediscovered the big ideas shaping curriculum,…

Disheartened by working at Children's Hospital and Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles, UCLA-trained Hunter became a school psychologist to concentrate on prevention, rather than remediation. Ultimately, she became a consultant aiming to move teaching from a craft to a profession based on research translated into artistic practice. (MLH)

A Nebraska consultant/former teacher explains his role in developing Internet accounts for teachers while working on a wetlands distance-learning project and an arts-education consortium. He explains ARTnet and other Internet services, including Telnet, FTP (file transfer protocol), the Gopher retrieval system, NetNews, and Listservs. Sidebars…

Describes common characteristics of two innovative models of student mental-health consultation programs: One, organized by two Harvard Medical School psychiatrists, operates in two Boston-area inner-city charter schools; the other, Responsive Advocacy for Life and Learning (RALLY), launched by a Harvard Medical School developmental psychologist,…

To help adolescents resolve problems with self-esteem, communication, conflict resolution, sex roles, and expectations, the author (a former divorce counselor) developed Dynamics of Relationships program allowing youngsters a chance to talk openly about sensitive personal issues. Piloted in Washington, D.C., schools, the program depends on…

Discusses the process by which the Weston (Massachusetts) Public Schools chose a secondary school core curriculum. Describes six issues the district had to settle, three guidelines it followed in planning its curriculum choice process, and the seven-step process it used to define its core curriculum. (RW)

A Deming expert explains that his 14 principles are no recipe but must be combined with the theory of profound knowledge, which poses essential questions and recognizes the importance of human variation, intrinsic motivation, and external rewards. She also debunks grading, formal teacher evaluation, tracking, and decentralized management. (MLH)