These true tales of educational trauma and transformation pay homage to Pelias, R. J. (2000. The critical life. "Communication Education," 49[3], 220-228), in order to share vulnerable, personal stories of surviving standardized testing, the short bus, and the tenure track. I offer vivid, thickly described accounts of personal failures…

Learning how leaders advance equity and justice can inspire, give mental models, and help create road maps. Eight years ago, Nancy Gerzon and the author researched professional learning in high-poverty schools that were narrowing the achievement gap for every demographic, which resulted in the book "Growing Into Equity" (Corwin, 2013).…

A public health crisis is looming in US schools. Millions of children do not receive mental health services, are poorly bonded to supportive educational communities, and fail to develop important social and emotional competencies. Considering these problems, many of which relate to students' school functioning, efforts are needed to support…

John Werry completed training in child and adolescent psychiatry at McGill University in Montreal, and has been a world renowned leader in children's mental health. Drawing on a half century of work in Canada, the United States, and his native New Zealand, he shares his reflections and vision for the future in the interview given for this…

In the aftermath of the school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut this past December, people experienced the world around them as less safe--understandably so. In response to such a tragic event, there is a degree of fear instilled in all people that for many was at its peak in the New Year as they prepared to send their children back to school.…

With approximately 310,000 Deaf Canadians, and another approximately 2.8 million hard-of-hearing Canadians, Deaf and hard-of-hearing people make up a significant portion of the Canadian population. This population is hard to quantify and describe due to its inherent diversity. Generally, the community is divided into those who follow an oral…

Currently, more than two thirds of school-aged children with mental health needs do not receive treatment. By exploring the numerous barriers that limit children's access to mental health care, the authors argue that school psychologists have a key role to play in supporting comprehensive mental health services for children. This article provides…

In schools, the term "consultation" has multiple meanings. Often it is used to describe a quick, informal process of advice giving between teachers and/or school specialists. As a formal discipline, School-Based Consultation (SBC) is an indirect service delivery model that involves two or more parties working together to benefit students. Most…

This article looks at one way for teachers to make classrooms emotionally, mentally, and physically healthy places to learn--places where tensions and stresses are lessened and where teachers and students are concentrating, yet relaxed. "Harmonious language learning classroom" is the term the author coined to describe this kind of language…

This article presents an interview with Jean Sunde Peterson, professor and director of school-counselor preparation in the Department of Educational Studies at Purdue University. She is a licensed mental health counselor and a national certified counselor, planning to return to clinical work with gifted children and adolescents and their families…

This special issue, Developing Social- Emotional and Behavioral Interventions with School Communities: Systematic and Collaborative Processes, reflects the current state of the science for improving schools to better educate children and adolescents and promote their behavioral health. The innovations described in this volume describe advancements…

If there is a salient defining condition of the modern age, it must surely be our tenacious belief in technology. We shall argue that our insatiable infatuation with the computer or "compuphilia", as we herein dub it, represents a serious and growing threat to the mental health of school children. Computers may make communication easier, but they…

K-12 teaching is a profession characterized by high levels of burnout and emotional exhaustion. Teacher burnout has been widely reviewed and studied; however, only limited literature examines the emotional aspects of teachers' lives and its connection with teacher burnout. The purpose of this article is to review the literature on teacher burnout…

This special series focused on treatment integrity in the child mental health and education field is timely. The articles do a laudable job of reviewing (a) the current status of treatment integrity research and measurement, (b) existing conceptual models of treatment integrity, and (c) the limitations of prior research. Overall, this thoughtful…

From the standpoint of a journal editor and researcher, this commentary critically reflects on some of the primary notions addressed in the 4 featured articles of the special section, discussing areas of agreement and divergence. As a way of further exploring these ethical and professional concerns, the contentious issue of using school children…