Ann Ramsey, principal of Abbott Junior High, peered into Ed Klein's math room. His students were actually sitting at their desks. Two raised their hands. Hannah Landau, a master math teacher and Ed's mentor, sat in the corner quietly taking notes.

Two years ago, when Ann first became principal, she had dreaded passing Ed's room. Inevitably, four or five kids would be sitting on desks; some would be flying paper airplanes or playing paper football. Ann had worried; there was never enough time to help teachers like Ed. Even with 14 years of experience, he didn't know how to manage a class or give clear directions.(Like most teachers, Ed had received tenure after three years on the job.) Helping him would require an enormous amount of time and energy; the help would have to be given discreetly, consistently, and empathically. Ann simply couldn't run the school and coach Ed.

After seven months of frustration, Ann had talked to the teachers' union building representative. They agreed that Ed was a good candidate for "intervention," the district's peer mentoring program. The two called a meeting of the building committee, which voted to place Ed in intervention.