An outdoor leader describes personal experiences with hard-of-hearing children and offers observations on understanding communication methods, incorporating individuals with various training, involving parents, and fostering teamwork. Stresses that apart from the disability, deaf children should be seen as "normal" in other ways. (KS)

Cooperative learning can help teach children to write because (1) it raises consciousness and encourages decision making; (2) its accepting social environment helps students seek worthwhile experiences; and (3) mutual concern and discussion of differing viewpoints rely on dialogue to enhance personal and intellectual growth. (SM)

In "The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization" (1990), Peter Senge shows how educators can achieve meaningful change and transform schools into self-renewing learning organizations. Organizations must develop five disciplines: personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, team learning, and systems…

Presents 35 strategies for dealing with common challenges that may arise in the cooperative learning classroom. Challenges include children who cannot get along, who prefer to be alone, who are unmotivated, who cannot keep up, who finish first, who finish last, and who make too much noise. (SM)

Explored similarities between psychosocial environments of consultee-centered consultation groups and task-oriented, social-recreational, and psychotherapy/mutual support groups as measured by the Group Environmental Scale (GES). Findings from 180 student teachers involved in consultee-centered mental health consultation groups revealed that GES…

According to two recent surveys, middle-level administrators' essential job skills include an ability to understand developing adolescents' characteristics and needs, develop and communicate a vital, responsive school philosophy, promote shared decision making, guide creation of an interdisciplinary team organization, develop a continuous school…

Improving the leadership skills of the school business manager will promote organizational structure, norms, and policies. A district staff-development program in consensus skills can simultaneously address problems and develop skills. (MLF)

Managed group formation uses student personal value data and sociometric nomination to optimize the influence of work group formation on student learning. Resulting work group formations are used to enhance the effectiveness of traditional course content and to increase students' sensitization to important group process issues in business policy.…

During 1992-93, an upstate New York district saved a million dollars while improving services for special needs students. The district saved tuition costs by reclaiming 80 disabled children formerly placed in outside programs. By carefully reviewing students' learning difficulties, staff lowered the number of students classified as educationally…

As more students with disabilities move into mainstreamed classroom settings, the role of special educators has shifted from direct instruction to more indirect support of classroom teachers. This article discusses definitions of consultation, the consultation process, consultation models, and situational factors in consultation. (JDD)

Using a teaching case based on an actual experience of a first-year resource teacher, this article explores several issues related to the effective and efficient implementation of collaborative models. It examines forms of collaboration; skills, qualities, and competencies needed; barriers and facilitators; and potential benefits. (JDD)

This paper considers issues affecting collaboration of professionals and family members in assessing children with special needs. Issues include process versus outcome, the balance of power between families and professionals, choices available to families, sequencing of services, formal versus informal assessment, family concerns and priorities,…

The Clarksville/Montgomery County (Tennessee) Board of Education has created a school-board contract that defines how the members will work together. (MLF)

The approach used by the University of Texas at Houston to fill a key administrative position is described. The method used a team of 13 members representing each school involved and other key constituents. Factors affecting the team's cohesiveness, procedures, and follow-up activities are explained. (MSE)

Describes how the University of Nebraska-Lincoln libraries used the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) as a way to understand the personality profile of the overall organization. The MBTI personality types of the library's 33 managers are summarized. Implications for managing the organization and specific approaches are discussed. (two references)…