National shortages of school psychologists have started conversations about training, the number of training programs needed, and how to initiate new programs. This article discusses the difficulties associated with traditional training programs for school psychologists and proposes exploring online education and virtual school psychology service…

In addition to teaching the subject matter, online teachers are tasked with supporting students' understanding of the online environment as well as students' progress, engagement, and interactions within the course. Yet only four states and the District of Columbia require teachers to receive training in online instruction prior to teaching a K-12…

Given rural school administrators' challenges and the need to support their leadership development, this qualitative study describes how one rural school district delivered professional development through a university-school partnership to prepare its assistant principals for their work. Methods: Eight assistant principals from nine schools…

This study examined teacher's views on the potential use of online in-service education and training (INSET) activities. The study used a qualitative approach. A total of 13 in-service teachers from primary school, vocational school, science and art center, high school in Trabzon (on the Black Sea coast of Turkey) participated in the study. To…

Regardless of the complexity of issues or the instructor's fallibility, the instructure must make decisions around group problems of: (1) process v content; (2) purpose; and (3) format. These tensions mirror the tensions consultants face in work in schools. Coping with them may mean student consultants are better prepared. (JAC)

Small rural schools incur greater expense and hardship to take advantage of staff development activities, usually held in cities or universities. The Iowa Intervention Initiative (III) overcame practical and logistic problems to hold teacher workshops for 79 small rural Iowa schools. Discusses III goals, recruitment of participants, selection and…

School psychology is a very complex field further complicated by current socio-political contexts which mandate the development of a psychology of school psychology, requiring two things as first steps. The first step is a model which outlines the conceptual map of the area, gives direction to investigations in the area, and checks on the…

Drawing upon research findings on school effectiveness, the McREL School Improvement Program was designed to examine critically such factors as school leadership, building organization, school climate and environment, and how citizens and parents are encouraged to participate in raising morale and effectiveness. Focus is upon instructional…

This report presents the conclusions of a consortium of organizations on the development of a framework for the appropriate preparation, use, and supervision of paraprofessionals in the delivery of speech and language services in early intervention and educational settings for children with communication disorders. The framework establishes three…

This is the second of three annual evaluation reports of the Georgia Life Skills for Mental Health program, a primary prevention program for alcohol and drug abuse which utilizes community mental health agencies as the link between program sponsors and public schools. This report is designed to document the program evaluation progress, inform the…

This is the fifth volume in a series of monographs from the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Service for Children and Their Families Program, which currently supports 41 comprehensive system of care sites to meet the needs of children with serious emotional disturbances (SED). This volume examines theories of adult learning, core values, and…

This report presents findings of an evaluation study of the District of Columbia's special education service delivery model (SDM) which focuses on decentralization, to school-based teams, of the processes of identification, assessment, and placement of special education students. The SDM was initially implemented as a pilot project with 40 schools…

Focuses on rural service delivery issues common to special education, school psychology, and mental health and outlines training-related solutions. Cautions against simplistic dichotomy of rural versus urban service delivery and professional isolationism. Recommends five skill categories for rural training: generalist training, personal and…

The Montgomery County, Maryland school district has a five-year plan to develop and install revised instructional systems in four major subjects. The components of the instructional system are: performance objectives for pupils, appropriate student placement based on performance, instructional guides for teachers, assessment tasks, and pupil…

This newsletter theme issue features articles on training of direct service staff working with persons with developmental disabilities in employment, education, and residential settings. The articles examine job training, delivery systems, training models, and implications of current approaches. The newsletter includes three articles presenting…