This article reviews the literature on consultation, collegiality, and other forms of collaboration in schools, as a means of assessing the knowledge base and understanding its relationship to special education. Research on implementation of collaborative practices in special education is called for. (JDD)

Administrative mentoring can encourage new administrators to become instructional leaders. The article discusses the shortcomings of mentoring for professional development and proposes mentoring to support experienced administrators trying to be more than managers. The availability of mentors to guide beginning instructional leaders facilitates…

A sixth grade teacher discusses how she enhanced student writing and thinking skills by having them collaborate on a class monster story. The article describes how they created the story. A copy of the story is included. (SM)

As middle managers in the educational enterprise, principals are pressured by groups with goals at odds with their own. After attempting to resolve three thorny ethical dilemmas, one female principal realized that conflicts are more often caused by superiors and government agencies than by students, parents, and teachers. The question arises: is…

In this interview, Arthur E. Wise, teacher reform advocate, discusses the status of educational reform, the impact of the national goals, and the principal's role in implementing change. School-based management complicates the principal's role, as principals must become expert team-builders and facilitators. The national education goals are…

Questionnaire data from 81 managers and 364 employees identified five factors predicting high team orientation in organizations: relationships with management, innovation, control of work by immediate supervisors, group cohesiveness, and open group process. (SK)

A New Jersey middle school has balanced its academic and social/emotional development programs by adding Prime Time, a daily time block allowing students a chance to participate in various school and community activities and thereby experience support, success, and recognition. Teachers have time for planning and participating in school-based…

The development of "English for Occupational Purposes" (EOP) by a team of seven authors and two project directors for EOP classes at Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore is described. Aspects included the prewriting stage; analyses of the teaching, learning, and target situations analysis; writing and editing; and postwriting stage. (LB)

Pairs of Illinois elementary teachers (previously enrolled in a language arts cooperative development project) formed a partner system involving communication via shared journals to reduce isolation during a staff development project. Participants found the shared journals very effective in sustaining collegiality. The article notes five…

Explains the importance of developing empowered employees, outlines stages of supervisory growth from administrator to coach, defines sources of the supervisory power base, explores differences between traditional and empowered thinking in job design, and describes how to build an organizational learning culture. (SK)

Findings from "Getting There from Here," a yearlong study of effective school leadership in 10 districts in 5 states, identify some of the problems that get in the way of effective school leadership. Offers nine practices that boards and superintendents can use to work together to achieve district goals. (MLF)

Discusses improvements in university teaching and reports on three initiatives in an Australian university which created opportunities for teachers to share their understandings with others and gain recognition for their contributions. The initiatives centered on the development of Teaching Enhancement Teams--groups of good teachers working…

The culture of an organization helps to determine the degree to which a new way of working is adopted and used. Team-based decision making in colleges and universities, as in other institutions, is more likely to be successful if organizational beliefs support the idea that change strengthens organizational goals. (Author/MSE)

Presents the TREAT model for constructing counseling goals and objectives during Individualized Education Program meetings. The model provides the multidisciplinary team with a procedure for organizing all relevant information when addressing students with special needs. Use of the model results in measurable, manageable, and defensible goals and…

Describes visualization methods used to design projects intended to improve the quality of life in developing countries, but which are also applicable to group problem-solving situations. Details main stages of a case study. Demonstrates that the techniques improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the problem-solving process and the quality of…