Although medical malpractice suits are based on a model of treatment of an individual by a professional, educational malpractice suits are based on a group treatment model. When the medical model and the teaching model are compared, the contrasts are so great that medical malpractice principles are not a reliable guide to the emerging law of educational malpractice. The models contain different professional-client relationships, different settings for professional practice, different interpretations of the duty of care owed to the plaintiff by the defendant, and different requirements for diagnosis and treatment. They also have different kinds of control over the conditions of service and different spans of control, and the two occupations have different standing in common law. Both kinds of cases, however, require demonstrating the complaint, cause of action, duty of care, proof of injury, and relationship between the negligence and the injury. Decisions will be difficult until there is more professional agreement about what constitutes nonnegligent diagnosis and treatment of the learner, although negligence is clear regarding diagnosis and referral of students with learning difficulties. One alternative to malpractice suits may be the use of administrative law. (Author/JM)