While academia has largely ignored the problem of adolescent depression until fairly recently, secondary educators have been confronting its symptoms, correlates, and outcomes for years. Research shows that lay adults such as parents and teachers often fail to notice depression in young people who report extensive symptoms in a clinical interview. Goals of the research reported here include exploration of an expanded referral net that includes, in addition to referral by school personnel, self-referral, referral by peers, and screening using standardized instruments. Two models, based on direct research, are presented. The first model states that depression is more likely when perceived psychological demands on an individual exceed perceived resources available for meeting those demands. The second model suggests a useful framework for conceptualizing referral issues. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in interviews of approximately 350 students and 30 teachers in a rural middle school and high school in southeastern Michigan. Student depression was measured by self-report, interviewer observation, and teacher observation. While the quantitative data collected allowed for the establishment of normative standards and reliability tests for the instrument being developed, the qualitative data allowed each to serve as a check for the other, ensuring the validity of the findings and suggesting areas for further research. (LLL)