A great deal has been written about immigrant children and youth. This brief focuses on implications for school improvement policy and practice. Discussed are (1) different reasons families migrate, (2) concerns that arise related to immigrant students, (3) prevailing school practices for addressing immigrant concerns, (4) a framework for…

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…

In this introductory packet, the range of conduct and behavior problems are described using fact sheets and the classification scheme from the American Pediatric Association. Differences in intervention needed are discussed with respect to variations in the degree of problem manifested and include exploration of environmental accommodations,…

There are relatively few major federal programs focused directly on advancing a systemic approach to mental health in schools. One such program is the U.S. Department of Education's grant program entitled: "Integration of Schools and Mental Health Systems." Established in 2005, the program has funded 51 projects and is in the process of funding…

In many arenas, the demand for data has outstripped the availability of good data and has increased the tendency to grab for whatever numbers are being circulated in the literature. As a result, when someone says: "This is the best data available," it is essential to remember that "best" does not always mean good. This caution is particularly…

In 2005, the U.S. Department of Education implemented a grant program for the Integration of Schools and Mental Health Systems. As described on the Department's website, "this program provides grants to SEAs, LEAs, and Indian tribes for the purpose of increasing student access to quality mental health care by developing innovative programs that…

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…

Long-standing policy controversies have heated up as a result of increasing proposals for using schools to screen for mental health problems (e.g., depression screening). This brief highlights the following issues: (1) How appropriate is large-scale screening for mental health problems? (2) Will the costs of large-scale mental health screening…

Policy makers remain in conflict over whether schools should play a institutionalized role in preventing student suicide. This brief highlights two other major related questions that are at issue: (1) Does suicide education stigmatize some students and increase that risk of suicide ideation? and (2) Should schools be involved in monitoring…

Although mental health in schools is discussed at many levels, fundamental differences in varying perspectives, attitudes, and vested interests result in divergent agendas for policy, practice, research, and training. This may confuse stakeholders and provide a source of conflict between policy and practice. This brief highlights a starter list of…

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…

Efforts to make substantial and substantive improvements related to mental health in schools and student/learning supports requires much more than implementing a few demonstrations. Improved approaches are only as good as a school district's ability to develop and institutionalize them equitably in all its schools. This process often is called…