This study describes the assistance relationships between teachers engaged in school-based education reform and the full-time facilitators hired to provide their training and support. The model that supplies these facilitators to Maine's Beacon Center schools is unique in combining three important design factors: (1) the science content expertise of the facilitators; (2) the duration of their time on site; and (3) the intensity of the assistance which they were able to provide. This study investigates the perceptions of both facilitators and their constituent teachers regarding the usefulness of the assistance provided as well as the reported impact of facilitators' assistance on teachers' science practices. Findings indicate that assistance provided to teachers who are engaged in reform should be situation-specific and that facilitators should have both content and pedagogical knowledge and be able to provide support in both areas. Contains 67 references. (DDR)