Discusses Ohio University's use of a performance contracting consultant to assist them in hiring an energy services company that could implement an energy conservation project. Why the use of consultants can prove beneficial is highlighted. (GR)

To help struggling readers' improve their reading, educational consultants must know a great deal about reading, reading assessment, and struggling readers. This article provides basic information about these topics by discussing Lipson and Wixson's (2003) Assessment-Instruction Process, making recommendations for working with struggling readers…

The purpose of this study was to assess three methods of delivering in-service professional development regarding constructivist curriculum for early childhood educators. Educators in 44 not-for-profit child care centres in three Canadian cities were studied; 94 educators with formal preservice training participated. The three methods were (a) a…

Background: Studies have found that health checking in primary care led to the identification of previously unrecognized morbidity among adults with intellectual disabilities. The aim here was to evaluate whether health checking stimulated increased consultation with the general practitioner or another member of the primary care team, increased…

In 2003, Terrence Martell, a finance professor at the City University of New York's Baruch College, encountered a classroom of 80 seniors who could navigate the complex intricacies of the futures markets and commodities trading. But when he asked them to write a report explaining to a commodity pool operator why he or she should retain the student…

One of the important challenges for leadership in project teams is the ability to manage the knowledge, communication and coordination related activities of team. In cross-team collaboration, different boundaries contribute to the situated nature of knowledge and hamper the flow of knowledge and prevent shared understanding with those on the other…

Catholic school educators are morally compelled by Catholic social teaching to foster inclusive service delivery for students who have traditionally been marginalized in schools, including students in poverty, students of color, English language learners, and students with special needs. This article applies this moral context to analyze the legal…

This study concentrates on the work of special education teachers in mainstream education in Finland, where these professionals work with children from various classes, usually in a separate room. The research reported in this article by Marjatta Takala of the University of Helsinki, Raija Pirttimaa of the University of Oulu and Minna Tormanen,…

The website "Active Listening" was developed within a larger project--"Interactive Web-based training in the subtleties of communication and active listening skill development." The Active Listening site aims to provide beginning counseling psychology students with didactic and experimental learning activities and interactive tests so that…

Since 1995 I have been engaged in consultancies and since 2001 in research dealing with the language of instruction policies in Africa. To what extent are the policies being implemented? What is the role of research and consultancy when it comes to language policy? What happens when researchers or consultants come up with recommendations which do…

Across the United States, policy makers and early childhood experts are focusing on implementing and evaluating a range of interventions designed to improve school readiness for young children living in poverty. This article provides an overview of the various factors that threaten optimal development of young children living in poverty and that…

This article explores how Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) manages knowledge retrieval by employees when they need to access documents written by colleagues in geographically distant units. CSC's establishment of virtual communities of practice facilitates the coordination of knowledge, and minimises contextual gaps between senders and…

Purpose: This paper aims to explore consultants' experiences of communities of practice (CoPs) in one of the world's largest information technology companies against organisational strategies. The research focus concerns experiences of formal top-down and underground CoPs. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is an exploratory case study.…

This article presents a multicase study of two systems of schools striving to reform service delivery systems for students with special needs. Considering these systems as institutional actors, the study examines what promotes the understanding and implementation of special education service delivery within a system of schools in a manner that…

Mathematics consultants from the United States provide ongoing professional development founded on the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (2000). Consultants provide teachers with sustained, hands-on opportunities to expand their abilities to teach mathematics more effectively. Readers will…