Presents 11 steps to take in choosing a consultant. (IRT)

Offers warnings on how to avoid rip-off artist consultants. Provides some clues on how to know when a consultant is needed and how to pick the right person. (IRT)

Participants in Educorps, a network of retired superintendents, travel throughout New York State to dispense hard-won advice to fellow school executives. During Educorps's first 20 months, 200 consultants have helped 60 school systems tackle financial planning, curriculum development, and public-relations issues. Services are free, minus…

Offers 12 ways in which a consultant can be used to attract, answer, and defuse concerns from employees, parents, students, and community members regardless of the reason the consultant was brought in. (Author/IRT)

Reviews approaches and specialties of six big-name educational consultants: Lee Canter, Vic Cottrell, Fenwick English, Ivan Fitzwater, Madeline Hunter, and Marian Leibowitz. Discusses reasons for hiring consultants (including delivery of unpleasant messages) and cautions districts to seek local talent, match consultants and tasks, and support…

To benefit fully from the consultants and guest lecturers hired to conduct inservice training for teachers, the McDowell County schools (North Carolina) cultivate a "red carpet" treatment policy for such visitors. Success depends on good two-way communication, efficient hospitality arrangements, administrative presence at workshops, and an…

Although real hostage situations have happened in schools, there is little information on the subject. Roger A. Bell, a psychiatrist and FBI consultant who has served as a negotiator in hostage-taking situations, designed a response that puts principals in charge before the SWAT team arrives. A mock exercise conducted at a Louisville (Kentucky)…

When the Darlington County (South Carolina) Public Schools invited consultants to audit the district, findings concerning ineffective policies, funding inequities, and curriculum quality were devastating. However, auditors' recommendations regarding board policy development, elimination of instructional fees, central office reorganization, and…

A Colorado school district employs a professional consulting firm to give an unbiased opinion on the district's roofing needs. Built-up, single-ply, and modified asphalt roofing systems have all been utilized. Preventive maintenance keeps roofing bills to a minimum. (MLF)

Offers suggestions for spending staff development money effectively. Ideas include the following: (1) keep your money close to the classroom; (2) use consultants to train your own trainers; (3) beware of embarking on numerous small-scale reforms; and (4) beware of pressure to copy other school improvement methods. (CJH)

A former police investigator advises school administrators how to respond to allegations of sexual abuse of students by school personnel. Administrators should recognize that such crimes do occur, maintain impartiality, follow strict notification protocols, and allow police and the child protection agency to investigate charges. Internal policy…

To make best use of consultants, administrators must furnish purpose, goals, and sufficient information to do the job. Paving the way for consultation can spell the difference between nonthreatening, efficient counseling that produces workable solutions and a situation marked by a suspicious, uncooperative staff and expensive delays. (MLH)

Describes the "old boys network" of power brokers, consultants, educational administration schools, and administrator organizations that help place superintendents and other school administrators around the country. Profiles several organizations and regional job brokers and consultants and discusses charges that the network is racist,…

Reviewing new phone and equipment fee policies after the AT&T divestiture, the author points out effects on school phone systems and budgets. (MD)