"A broad-based description of the school psychologist's role, together with guidelines for its effective implementation....The value of this work is enhanced by the fact that the public school is often the major institution that offers hope for the future of poor children...To help such children, public schools require the services of skilled human service workers. This book effectively points the way for these workers to gain entry and provide much-needed services."

--Readings

"Entry into a school means more than walking through the door. It includes gaining access to staff, receiving sanctions for involvement, obtaining support, overcoming resistance, and effectively involving staff. This unique book offers consultants in-depth information regarding these essential skills."

--Intervention in School and Clinic

"Marks's focus on issues of entry in consultation fills a gap in the literature. His practical (and tried!) suggestions reveal consultation as a service delivery approach with human relationship at its core. This contribution is both refreshing and vital. I will be ordering it for my classes."

--Mary Henning-Stout, PhD

Guilford Publications Web Site, August, 2000

Using a holistic approach--to take intervention from an individual to a systemic level--this book focuses on the front-line, practical issues faced by the consultant attempting to gain entry into a school. Opening with a review of consultation and its purposes, this unusually practical volume describes in detail how to:

Define consultant functions
Make decisions about where to enter the system
Build support among key school system staff who are in a position to facilitate initial entry
Garner information on the school's lines of authority, communication networks, missions, values, goals, and traditions
Determine how practical the project is to the school
Ascertain whether financial, personnel, and other resources are available so the project can work.

A comprehensive guide to entering the school system as a consultant, the book comes complete with prototype forms, questionnaires for examining consultant competency, and rating sheets for tracking the consultation process.

I. The Key People to Entry Plan

1. The Principal
2. The Supervisor (The Central Office)
3. The Teachers
4. School Support Staff
5. The Parents

II. Barriers to Entry

6. Resistance
7. Logistics

III. The Culmination of Effective Entry

8. Empowering School Staff: Making Consultation Happen

Appendix A. Communication Techniques in Brief
Appendix B. School Climate Survey

References