Everyone agrees that schools should ensure a positive school climate. Less agreement exists, however, about what this means and how to accomplish it. This is especially so when the call is for developing a safe and supportive environment that also is nurturing and caring and that provides all students with an equal opportunity to succeed. Equity…

Introduction into federal policy of response to intervention (RTI) and positive behavior intervention and supports (PBIS) led to widespread adoption and adaptation of the three tier intervention pyramid. As originally presented, the pyramid highlights three different levels of intervention and suggests the percent of students at each level. While…

Every student absence jeopardizes the ability of students to succeed at school and schools to achieve their mission. School attendance is a constant concern in schools. Average daily attendance rates are a common determiner of school funding, so schools funded on the basis of average daily attendance have less resources to do the job. Students who…

As the focus on school improvement at a state education agency moves from mostly a compliance approach to playing a greater role in capacity building, the agency's leadership needs to rethink student and learning supports. That is the focus of this report. Given that almost half of the chief state school officers have assumed their position in the…

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…

Risk taking is natural. As the bumper stickers says: "Risk taking happens!" Risk taking behavior may be beneficial or harmful. Some risk taking is unintentional. But a considerable amount stems from proactive or reactive motivation. For schools, some forms of student risk taking behavior are a necessity, and some forms are a problem. With respect…

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…

This publication presents a collection of resources on violence prevention and safe schools. This document contains the following parts: (1) Introduction; (2) A Few Resource Aids; (3) Public Policy and Funding Opportunities; (4) More Resource Aids on Violence Prevention and Safe Schools; and (5) Concluding Comment. Individual sections contain…

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) Complex Problems, Limited Solutions; (2) Research into Practice: Supporting Successful Transition to Ninth Grade; (3) Schools & MH Research; and (4) Response Form.

Those in the public health field are in a unique position to help promote the mental health of young people and reshape how the nation thinks about and addresses mental health. This brief highlights ways in which such professionals can join in the process of ensuring the impending transformation of the mental health system leads to better outcomes…