In May, Congresswoman Judy Chu issued a report entitled: "Strengthening Our Schools: A New Framework and Principles for Revising School Improvement Grants." Rather than the usual limited two-component blueprint framework that focuses only on instruction and management/governance, Representative Chu's report adopts a three-component framework. This…

Concern about responding to behavior problems and promoting social and emotional learning are related and are embedded into the arenas we frame to encompass the content of student/learning supports. How these concerns are addressed is critical to the type of school and classroom climate that emerges and to student engagement and re-engagement in…

Effectively addressing student behavior, learning, and emotional problems requires greater attention to transforming what transpires in classrooms. To this end, student support staff and others who can help need to spend more time teaming with teachers in the classroom. To support such efforts, the Center for Mental Health in Schools has developed…

Effective practices typically evolve over a long period in high-functioning, fully engaged systems. Historically, schools have been confronted with project after project, program after program, initiative after initiative. Many of these aim at addressing learning, behavior, and emotional problems and making schools safe and drug free. This issue…

Leaders concerned with advancing mental health in school need to focus on much more than just increasing clinical services. This issue of the quarterly newsletter of the Center for Mental Health in Schools includes the following features and regular segments: (1) Mental Health in Schools: Much More than Services for the Few; (2) Many Schools, Many…

Federal policies of parental involvement and community participation continue to be more rhetorical than meaningful; more theoretical than practical; an afterthought rather than a forethought; and they take a back seat to the more bureaucratic and technical elements of public education change and reform, especially testing and assessment. This…

Considerable controversy surrounds discussion of a mayor's role in public education. From a policy perspective, however, it is essential that every mayor help improve schools. This issue of the quarterly newsletter of the Center for Mental Health in Schools includes the following features and regular segments: (1) Open letter to the Mayor--A…

The concept of "Response to Intervention ' is finding its way into schools with a significant push from the federal government and with a particular emphasis on reducing inappropriate diagnoses for special education. This issue of the quarterly newsletter of the Center for Mental Health in Schools includes the following features and regular…

A major focus at the Center for Mental Health in Schools is on facilitating continuous learning related to mental health and psychosocial concerns in schools, including providing technical assistance and encouraging networking among those working in and with schools. This issue of the quarterly newsletter includes the following features and…

Recent policy and program analyses conducted by the Center for Mental Health in Schools indicate that few support staff are full participants at school and district tables where major school improvement decisions are made, and that student support staff are therefore not appropriately accounted for in school improvement planning and…

This issue of the quarterly newsletter of the Center for Mental Health in Schools includes the following features and regular segments: (1) Concerns = Opportunities: Addressing Student Disengagement, Acting Out, and Dropouts by Moving in New Directions; (2) Info Sheet: Costs of Not Addressing Barriers to Learning; and (3) Current Status of Mental…

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has been holding a series of stakeholder meetings focused on better understanding and planning for schools to be transformative environments for mental health, positive youth development, and academic achievement. This issue of the quarterly newsletter of the Center for Mental…

This issue of the quarterly newsletter of the Center for Mental Health in Schools includes the following features and regular segments: (1) Complex Problems, Limited Solutions; (2) Research into Practice: Supporting Successful Transition to Ninth Grade; (3) Schools & MH Research; and (4) Response Form.

Despite much public emphasis on school improvement, it is evident that too little proactive attention has been paid to improving what schools do to address barriers to learning and teaching. This issue of the quarterly newsletter of the Center for Mental Health in Schools includes the following features and regular segments: (1) Who at the School…

This issue of the quarterly newsletter of the Center for Mental Health in Schools builds on the Fall 2001 newsletter dealing with bullying as a major barrier to student learning. This issue includes the following features and regular segments: (1) Bullying and Addressing Barriers to Learning; (2) Research into Practice: Screening for Depression;…