School consultants often use problem-solving consultation when working with educators and caregivers to support the behavioral and academic outcomes of students. Considering some of the well-known limitations to in-person service delivery, consultants have increasingly relied on telecommunications as a medium through which to deliver…

Presented in this document, a product of the project on Documentation and Technical Assistance in Urban Schools (DTA), is a series of principles that can be used by members of schools and their consultants to improve the capacity of schools to solve their problems locally. References are made to the complexities of school problems and of human…

Serving in a program evaluation at Cornell University's Center for International Studies by holding the unique position of participating in three distinct capacities: first, as the administrator of the center's undergraduate program; second, as a teacher in one of its courses; and third, as a member of the evaluation team, functioning as an…

Trying to reconstruct his role in the evaluation of interdisciplinary, problem-oriented courses at Cornell University's Center for International Studies (CIS), one educationist/administrator focused on the evaluation of questions. Primary staff goals included the demonstration that CIS interdisciplinary courses would better serve students as an…

This paper presents a problem-focused needs assessment process for use by student affairs personnel. A comprehen- sive perspective of the needs assessment process is recommended, which views needs assessment as a necessary step in program planning, implementation and debriefing. Five types of needs assessment are identified and explained: (1)…

Three evaluators with different backgrounds and interests were involved in a program evaluation at Cornell University's Center for International Studies, where two of the evaluators had serious conflicts and the third served as an in-house mediator. The third evaluator questioned why he had credibility with the first two, looked at how he…

The following considerations are of major importance to the persons who act as technical assisters for the Long Range Plan for School Improvement (LRPSI) in Pennsylvania: (1) long-range planning should be viewed as a deliberative and participative process; its steps should not be considered in isolation from each other; (2) comprehensive needs…