School Health Profiles is conducted biennially to assess characteristics of school health programs. State and local departments of education and health select either all public secondary schools within their jurisdictions or a systematic, equal-probability sample of public secondary schools to participate in School Health Profiles. At each school,…

Describes the evolution, implementation, maintenance, and evaluation of comprehensive school-based mental health services in the Dallas, Texas public schools. A collaboration between mental health services, other health services, and the schools established 10 Youth and Family Centers to serve local schools. Benefits and challenges to coordinated…

An emerging consensus exists in the school reform literature about what conditions contribute to student success. Conditions include high standards for academic learning and conduct, meaningful and engaging pedagogy and curriculum, professional learning communities among staff, and personalized learning environments. Schools providing such…

This study assessed the interest of alternative high school staff in intervention research on students' eating and physical activity habits and the feasibility of conducting such research in alternative school settings. A two-phase descriptive design incorporated both quantitative and qualitative methods. In fall/winter 2001-2002, alternative high…

Examined the relationship of race and rural/urban setting to physical, behavioral, psychosocial, and environmental factors associated with physical activity among eighth grade girls. More differences related to race than setting. Black girls were less active and more heavy than white girls. Enjoyment of physical education and family involvement in…

Outlines steps taken by the University of California San Francisco in achieving partnership with a local urban school district to implement a school-based sexually transmitted disease/human immunodeficiency virus prevention program. Emphasizes the process of recruiting school districts, health education liaisons, teachers, parents, and students.…

Examined the impact of an urban, high school-based day care center on low-income parenting teens and their children. Retrospective record reviews indicated that participating students showed improvement in overall grade point average. All students graduated or were promoted to the next grade. No participants experienced repeat pregnancies. Most…

This study examined how brief nurse consultations helped prevent alcohol use among urban youth. Surveys of sixth-eighth graders who did and did not complete the consultations indicated that intervention students reduced and control students increased their heavy drinking following the intervention. There were no differences on other alcohol use…

This study explored stages of alcohol acquisition and risk factors associated with stages based on the Multi-Component Motivational Stages model. Subjects were 254 urban middle schoolers (90% black, 62% female). Questionnaire results indicated that most students were in a precontemplation stage for alcohol use. Alcohol use was found to be the best…

Guided by the Health Belief Model, focus groups identified strategies to promote parent involvement with their children's substance abuse education. Low-income parents and school personnel identified cues to action and necessary requirements (child care, transportation, incentives) as important in promoting parent involvement. Children's…

Surveys examined whether psychosocial factors (psychosocial distress, drug use, family stress, and school performance) would distinguish adolescents endorsing high suicide ideation from those who did not, focusing on potential school dropouts. High-risk students with suicide ideation had more psychosocial distress, drug involvement, family stress,…

For school-based health clinics (SBHCs) to succeed, the agenda for school-based care must reflect the community's needs and priorities. The article presents focus group data from three SBHCs in rural and urban Louisiana, demonstrating how controversies about reproductive health may frame more general concerns about school-based care. (SM)

Addresses decision-making skills as one approach to increasing adolescents' ability to manage interpersonal violence. Data from Healthy Transitions, a pilot violence prevention study in Baltimore (Maryland), illustrate ways adolescents think about situations of social conflict and highlight the need to understand adolescents' viewpoints when…

The Cincinnati School Health Demonstration Project was a 3-year collaboration that evaluated school-linked health services in 6 urban elementary (kindergarten to eighth grade) schools. Partners from the Cincinnati Health Department, Cincinnati Public Schools, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and The Health Foundation of Greater…

The Urban Intergenerational Outreach Education Program transferred cancer prevention from a cancer center to community and school settings, involving a university, an academic medical center, a school district, and a nonprofit arts organization. Project staff developed the culturally and developmentally appropriate curriculum for urban middle…