Of the 1.6 billion people with hearing loss worldwide, over 1.2 billion live in underserved communities with the least access to hearing care. This includes preventable hearing loss in an estimated 42 million children who, without early identification and treatment, are at increased risk of significant detrimental effects that can last a lifetime.…

Much attention has been focused on the importance of providing physical and mental health services to students in educational environments in recent years. Millions of students receive school-based health services, and for many students, schools are their first and only option to receive health care. State policymakers have a lot to consider in…

Innovation in education is vital for responding to emerging challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and for building progress on longstanding challenges in schools. The infusion of substantial, highly flexible pots of federal relief dollars created an opportunity to pilot new programs and initiatives. Many states and districts opted to invest…

Primary Project (formerly known as Primary Mental Health Project) is one of the longest standing and well-established school-based preventative mental health interventions for addressing the social, emotional, behavioral, and learning needs of preschool through primary grade children. Existing now for over 60 years and building on its historical…

This brief focuses on the efforts of the nursing programs at Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas (PCCUA) to reduce time to completion, increase achievement, and enhance student support. To accomplish these goals, PCCUA involved healthcare providers, faculty, students, college curriculum committees, the Accreditation Commission…

The components of a professional development model designed to empower school nurses to become leaders in school health services is described. The model was implemented during a 3-day professional development institute that included clinical and leadership components, especially coalition building, with two follow-up sessions in the fall and…

Concern about the adequacy of existing optometry schools to meet the needs and demands for optometric education in the South prompted a study, to result in a proposal for expansion of education in the field. The results showed that there is a shortage of optometrists in each of the 14 states of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) region,…

This KIDS COUNT special report focuses on the state of Arkansas' families, using state and national data to discuss demographic and economic changes facing families and the ways those changes affect children. The report discusses the increase in the number of children nationally and statewide growing up in homes without fathers, and notes that the…