This article describes the development of the Head Start Mental Health Research Consortium, a research partnership between the Administration on Children, Youth and Families and the National Institute of Mental Health. The Consortium is designed to assess mental health needs of low-income children and optimal approaches for addressing these needs.…

This article presents an alternative approach for reducing violence in schools: the development of evidence-based tools that can be used in existing networks to structure systemic changes. The PEACE POWER strategy emphasizes four practices: recognize contributions and successes, act with respect, share power to build community, and make peace.…

To meet the present and future educational and mental health needs of our nation's youth, current models of mental health service delivery need to be reformed. Any more time spent arguing the differences between categories such as Emotional Disturbance (ED) and Social Maladjustment (SM) will only delay much needed services and deplete our already…

The amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1997 (IDEA '97) established a number of expectations regarding how the behavioral needs of students with disabilities would be met and how they should be disciplined. These expectations included alternative behavioral assessment strategies (e.g., functional behavioral assessments,…

The authors provide an analysis of why the controversies surrounding educational treatment are likely to continue even with scientific validation of practices as called for in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act. They describe how bias in human judgment makes it difficult to trust others and also difficult to doubt oneself relative to important…

Cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) is based on the notion that thoughts, emotions, and actions are reciprocally linked and that changes in one of these necessarily will produce changes in the others. In CBT, thoughts, emotions, perceptions, and information processing styles all play a key role in the development and remediation of behavior and…

In the United States today Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is recognized by professionals as a distinct disorder, a neurobiological disability marked by inattentiveness, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. About 2-10% of school-age children suffer from ADD, making it an issue of rising concern to families and school leaders. It is necessary that…

This paper reviews the literature on inclusion of children with emotional and behavioral disorders in regular education classrooms and proposes implementation of an inclusion program at one elementary school in Texas. The literature review covers the following aspects of inclusion: teacher selection and their expectations, professional…

The Mentor Supported School Success Program was developed by the rural school district of Dorchester County, Maryland, as an effort to include students displaying troubling behaviors in regular classroom settings. The program offers supplementary support to current school programming through the use of mentors. In the first year of the program,…

This collection of papers presented at a 1996 conference on children's mental health focuses on the child welfare system. The five papers have the following titles and authors: (1) "A Controlled Study of Foster Children with Emotional/Behavioral Disturbances: Equivalence of Groups across Characteristics" (Barbara Lee and others); (2)"Impact of an…

This collection of papers presented at a 1996 conference on children's mental health focuses on research methodology and information systems. Papers have the following titles and authors: (1) "Parental Agreement on Ratings of Child Behavior: Measures of Agreement and Related Factors" (Carol T. Nixon, William E. MacLean); (2) "CAFAS…

Intended for teachers of students with behavior problems, this manual provides information on developing and maintaining a positive classroom environment and managing specific behavioral difficulties. Major emphasis is placed on the importance of encouraging affective development among all students. The manual's first section addresses effective…

The document consists of a 125-item evaluation instrument for use in assessing the overall plan and quality of programs in the area of serious emotional disturbance (SED) or behavior disorders. Questions are organized according to the following nine categories (based on identified components of a well-designed SED program): (1) respondent and…

This final report presents eight papers resulting from research conducted during the third and final year of the "Handicapped Children as Tutors" project, which investigated effects of involving handicapped students as tutors of disabled and non-disabled elementary and secondary school students. Results of all the research showed…

In this discussion of Fritz Redl's model of ego dysfunction in disturbed children, tasks the mature ego must accomplish are described, such as frustration tolerance, temptation resistance, realism about rules and routines, and exposure to competitive challenges. The model's educational applications involve assessment of discipline problems,…