Since 1981 the Teacher Explanation Project has conducted a series of studies to determine whether teachers who provide explicit explanations about how to use reading skills as strategies to low-group readers will be more effective in developing student awareness of how to be strategic and in improving student reading achievement. Because all the studies required training of one group of teachers, the techniques for intervening with the teachers became a major consideration. This paper traces the historical development of the staff development model, specifies what has been learned about how to train teachers, describes the three-phase staff development model used in the final experimental study, and suggest future staff development directions and problems. It is an aid to other researchers conducting intervention studies designed to develop complex teacher behaviors. (Author)