Presents numerous suggestions for effective and efficient meetings, including: deciding on the meeting's purpose and outcome; preparing and sending out an agenda before the meeting; starting meetings on time; using a variety of strategies for reaching decisions and solving problems; and compiling and distributing minutes as soon as possible. (RS)

Addresses realities and options of the adult education consulting practice and describes prevalent frustrations among practitioners as they attempt to deal with changing models and strategies. (JOW)

Suggests that adult education consultants must develop professional relationships with colleagues, know about available resources, and have a supportive network. Outlines ways in which consultants can gain access to and maximize use of resources. (Author)

Sees diagnosis as process that helps organizations enhance their capacity to assess and change dysfunctional aspects of culture and patterns of behavior as basis for developing greater effectiveness and ensuring continuous improvement. Presents framework for understanding "learning diagnosis" in which diagnostic process is part of large-scale…

Describes one woman's experiences in setting up and maintaining a marketing consultant business. Discusses advantages and disadvantages. (JOW)

Questions to consider before marketing in-house training externally include (1) balancing internal and external clients, accounting for costs, being concerned about proprietary information, finding the right niche, and determining whether profitability is a goal. (SK)

Examines issues involved in conceptualizing consultation from systems framework. Discusses language for understanding and implementing systems interventions. Describes systems as interacting multilevel dynamic structures that affect and are affected by meaning structures used by members. Notes that consultants can learn to use reframing and other…

Contends that consultants enter into legal contracts each time they agree to consultation arrangement outside regular work setting. Says consultants need to understand legal context of contracts within which they perform services and recognize benefits of written agreement. Notes that written understanding of consultation arrangement can be…

This manuscript describes five of the most common mistakes made in developmental education programs based on the author's experiences, which include consulting at over 200 community colleges. These mistakes include failing to create a seamless transition, failing to train adjunct instructors, failing to coordinate developmental programs, failing…

The purpose of this study was to examine how secondary teachers have been taught to teach reading-to-learn over the last four decades, and to teach the struggling and reluctant readers in their classes. In this study, twelve secondary reading methods textbooks were analyzed. The textbooks were chosen based on four criteria: (a) availability, (b)…

No Child Left Behind has increased the demand for evidence of student achievement in America's public schools. As a result, the importance of the role of superintendent as instructional leader has increased. Some superintendents have responded to this demand by mandating that principals increase their presence in classrooms; yet, research on…

School psychology training and practice have been substantially influenced by a series of documents referred to as "Blueprints." The second edition of the "Blueprint" directly led to the development of training standards for school psychology that addressed several domains of practice. Both preceding and simultaneous to the…

Survey data gathered from a group of reading specialists and classroom teachers participating in a regional IRA conference focused on vocabulary instruction were analyzed for this article. The survey inquired into their classroom and building practices relative to the teaching of vocabulary. The results indicate that the major concern is not what…

This article focuses on the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management (IY TCM) intervention as an example of an evidence-based program that embeds fidelity and adaptation within its design. First, the core features of the IY TCM program along with the methods, processes, and principles that make the intervention effective are described. The…

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) assesses the reading achievement of fourth-graders and collects data on their teachers' reading instruction practices and strategies. Presenting data from the United States and the 44 other jurisdictions that participated in PIRLS 2006, this Statistics in Brief describes international…