Marginal teachers have three common behaviors that have questionable or negative effects on student learning: failure to create an appropriate classroom atmosphere, lack of personal insight and motivation, and unwillingness to accept responsibility for problems. When mentoring and improvement programs fail, collaborative programs with the right…

Examines the effect of communication media on group processes and the consequent effect of processes on group cohesiveness, satisfaction, and productivity using mediated regression analysis. Supports previous findings about group outcomes by showing that communication media groups expressed lower cohesiveness than did face-to-face groups. (AEF)

Describes the Tall Tree Initiative for Library Services, sponsored by the Reader's Digest Foundation and administered by the public and school library systems of Westchester County, New York. The initiative focuses on improving services offered children in the 21st century, and demands a new level of school-public library cooperation. (AEF)

The City of Phoenix offers a five-day river-based camping experience to at-risk and disabled teens. Describes how professional river outfitters are contracted to run the trips, staffing considerations, liability and safety considerations, and camper orientation. Evaluation showed that participants received lasting measurable benefits, including…

Describes an outdoor adventure camp to help mental health consumers and nursing students explore the issues of mental health and illness through experiential and perceived risk challenges. Evaluation data reveals a breakdown in the stigma of mental illness as consumers and students came to know, trust, and count on each other in order to succeed…

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,…

Describes the live virtual reference service, Q and A NJ (Question and Answer New Jersey), strategies used to meet the challenges of day-to-day management, scaled growth and quality control. Describes how it began; how long it took; how to manage a large project (constant communication; training and practice; transcript analysis and privacy;…

Provides suggestions for transitioning to family-centered services. Discusses how to establish commitments from schools and agencies, how to bring staff into the process of change, how to develop family-centered initiatives, how to provide appropriate training for staff, ways to overcome resistance, and strategies for matching services to need.…

Colleges and universities continually search for ways to enhance the safety and security of their educational programs and physical plant. This article examines how the University of Southern California and other institutions are using collaborative efforts with the local community to enhance their mutual safety and security through dynamic…

The Associated Medical Schools of New York consortium has established a multifaceted, statewide effort aimed at increasing the pool of qualified minority applicants. The programs include academic enrichment for precollege and college students, recruitment conferences, and a program to attract minority students to residency training in New York.…

Describes programs at Montana State University, Bozeman, that cooperate with tribally controlled community colleges to provide opportunities for American Indian transfer students. Focuses on training in health sciences, engineering, public service, and educational administration and on efforts to ease students' transition to university life. (SV)

Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) medical directors and academics (N=450) explored the barriers to and incentives for cooperation between academic medical centers (AMCs) and HMOs in clinical education. AMCs need to be prepared to offer meaningful academic and financial inducements to attract HMOs to participate in teaching. (Author/MLW)

Responds to five major articles by Duckworth, Goldman, Healy, Sampson, and Goodyear on issues pertaining to testing and assessment in counseling psychology. Proposes a cooperative research program to extend the conclusions from Goodyear's review, and to test the hypotheses behind the recommendations of Duckworth, Goldman, Healy, and Sampson.…

Small school systems can have more program and budget flexibility by working collaboratively with neighboring school systems. This article describes the efforts of three school systems in the Detroit, Michigan, area to share services and resources. Common values, communication, mutual support, and trust proved more important than scheduling and…

The annual meeting of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education is discussed. Collaboration among and within universities, schools, teacher organizations, and public agencies are seen as the key to educational reform. The goal is the improvement of some aspect of teacher education, research, or schooling. (MLW)