Consultation Skills for Resource Teachers

Although the importance of the resource teacher's consulting role has been widely acknowledged, relatively little information is available on educators' perceptions of that role. This study was undertaken to identify the consulting skills educators expect resource teachers to possess, and to determine how proficiently resource teachers are judged to perform the consultant role. Based on the responses of resource teachers, regular education teachers, and principals to a questionnaire, most of the skills typically associated with consultation were determined to be necessary for resource teachers. In addition, resource teachers were rated moderately skilled as consultants. These results suggest that educators' expectations for resource teachers' job performance may be unrealistic, and that consultation may be an area in which skill development for resource teachers is needed.