The Teacher-Consultant Model—: A Different Perspective: A Reaction To Symposium 13

Abstract

This article reacts to and expands on Symposium 13, which appeared in The Journal of Special Education (Vol. 11, No. 2, 1977). The symposium was concerned with the desirability of a transition from the traditional diagnostic-remedial model to the teacher-consultant model for providing services to children with "mild learning and behavior problems." Referring to the symposium lead article by Dr. Phyllis Newcomer, this article points out the lack of role specificity in Dr. Newcomer's discussion of the teacher-consultant concept and notes her lack of an operational model for the concept. After presenting such a model, the discussion proceeds from a perspective different from Dr. Newcomer's but offers further support to her notions that the teacher-consultant model is a more efficient service delivery model. The discussion then moves to a rebuttal of the symposium critics of Dr. Newcomer's position, again from a perspective different from Dr. Newcomer's, and concludes with implications for personnel preparation programs.