This manual is for experienced group leaders who will be training parents, educators, or policymakers to use the Middle Grades Assessment Program to evaluate how schools are responding to the developmental needs of adolescents. This manual is to be used in conjunction with the user's manual and a slide-tape presentation. The user's manual provides a checklist of observation items and interview questions that relate the physical, intellectual, emotional, and social needs of young adolescents to the school environment. Techniques for training people in the use of the school observation and assessment checklist are presented in this manual, which is divided into two sections: (1) training in the observation and assessment of a school; and (2) leading the assessment team members to share and summarize their information. Two modules provide guidelines for clarifying the group's philosophy and objectives, building a consensus, and reviewing and practicing observation and interviewing skills. Activities are recommended for sharing and summarizing the observations of the group following a school visit. (JD)