Dear Readers, We are happy and honored to introduce the inaugural issue of THE RUSSIAN-AMERICAN EDUCATION FORUM: AN ONLINE JOURNAL. This international publication for professional educators is the child of two non-governmental parent organizations: the Moscow Publishing House, “Pedagogicheskii Poisk” (Educational Search) and the American non-profit, THE AMERUS EXCHANGE, LTD, located in Chatham, NY. The Russian publisher, Dr. Vladimir Lizinsky, approached THE AMERUS EXCHANGE with an idea and an offer to start an international educational journal online. Dr. Tatyana Tsyrlina-Spady, a Russian educator now living in the United States, and AMERUS EXCHANGE president, Jack Mc Gurgan, a retired school principal, enthusiastically agreed, and the online journal took on life.

Faced with a lack of time, resources and information, every school principal needs to learn how to make important decisions quickly and successfully. This is an important skill even in those rare occasions when there is plenty of time, sufficient resources, and abundant information. One of the best methods for generating a variety of possible solutions for a given problem is through a “team approach.” This approach calls for the creation of a school management team of either volunteers or appointees and can include high school students, parents, and teachers who have specific skills or interests and who agree to serve on the team. Ideally, the team might include present and future school leaders or members who are interested in educational research, as well as, school department heads and other teachers.