Along with the rest of the education system, the role of the local advisor or inspector has changed in recent years. There is now considerable pressure for local advisory services to take on an inspectorial and evaluative role. At the same time, the need for schools to have access to the disinterested advice of professional colleagues in a time of institutional upheaval has never been greater. Joan Dean offers sound practical guidance to advisors and inspectors at all levels on how to carry out this difficult but crucial task. She considers the aims of the advisory service in the fields of inspection, support and staff-development and sets out the means by which these aims can be achieved. These include the development of interpersonal skills in dealing with school staff and other sections of the advisory network, interviewing, organising advisory teams and managing one's own work. In all these areas, Joan Dean gives advice based on 28 years in the advisory services. Her book will be an essential handbook not only for advisors themselves but also for those in schools and in higher education who collaborate with them in the development of schools and teachers.