Additional Resources from Other Organizations

Adolescent Health Services: Missing Opportunities is a report led by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine that reviews and makes recommendations for strengthening and improving an integrated health system for adolescents in the United States.  This link provides a summary of the report, and information on how to access it.

The Institute for Educational Sciences The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) was established in 2002 by the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education to provide educators, policymakers, researchers, and the public with a central and trusted source of scientific evidence about "what works" in education. Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. administers the WWC under contract to the Department. To help all students and schools meet high standards, educators need more evidence of what works in education. Currently, few resources help education decision makers separate high-quality research from weaker research and promotional claims. Through systematic reviews to identify rigorous research, the WWC provides educators with credible and reliable evidence that they can use to make informed decisions. Also available are Practice Guides and Intervention Guides from the WWC. 

Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People: Progress and Possibilities is a report brief from the National Academies that analyzes preventive interventions for mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders among America's youth.  Detailed recommendations are provided based upon a review of the literature.

A Public Health Approach to Children's Mental Health: A Conceptual Framework- 2010 from the Georgetown National Techincal Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health. The full monograph and the executive summary are both available for free to the public. 

State Mental Health Lawmakers' Digest is a periodical from the National Conference of State Legislatures, with support from the MacArthur Foundation.  The Spring 2009 issue is focused on school mental health has a variety of features, including synopses of the latest health policy research, highlighted evidence-based programs, and an interview with the former director of the CSMH, Mark Weist.

Trends in Adolescent and Young Adult Health in the United States is an article published in July 2009 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.  The article reviews health trends for American adolescents and young adults.  Data are presented on demographics, mortality, health-related behaviors, and healthcare access and utilization.  Major gender and racial/ethnic disparities are highlighted.

Priorities in a Blueprint for Reform builds on the significant reforms already made in response to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 around four areas: (1) Improving teacher and principal effectiveness to ensure that every classroom has a great teacher and every school has a great leader; (2) Providing information to families to help them evaluate and improve their children's schools, and to educators to help them improve their students' learning; (3) Implementing college-and career-ready standards and developing improved assessments aligned with those standards; and (4) Improving student learning and achievement in America's lowest-performing schools by providing intensive support and effective interventions.

Turning Around, Transforming, and Continuously Improving Schools: Federal Proposals are Still Based on a Two- Rather than a Three- Component Blueprint This report begins with a discussion of school turnaround models to illustrate the dilemma confronting efforts to enable equity of opportunity.  Then, the analysis focuses on current priorities as reflected in the Race to the Top and School Improvement grant proposals and the U.S. Department of Education's Blueprint for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.  

Strengthening Our Schools: A New Framework and Principles for Revising School Improvement Grants This report illustrates Rep. Chu's (D-CA) proposed new framework, called Strengthening Our Schools (SOS). The plan would promote flexibility and collaboration between schools, parents, community leaders, businesses and other stakeholders; provide support to students facing crisis, both inside and outside of the classroom, by offering mental health services for behavioral problems, ESL resources and other wrap-around services; and giving teachers the tools they need to reconnect with disengaged students and help improve performance through personalized teacher training and specialized instructional support.

The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) monitors six categories of priority health-risk behaviors among youth and young adults: 1) behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries and violence; 2) tobacco use; 3) alcohol and other drug use; 4) sexual behaviors that contribute to unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection; 5) unhealthy dietary behaviors; and 6) physical inactivity. In addition, YRBSS monitors the prevalence of obesity and asthma. YRBSS includes a national school-based Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) conducted by CDC and state and local school-based YRBSs conducted by state and local education and health agencies. This report summarizes results from the 2009 national survey, 42 state surveys, and 20 local surveys conducted among students in grades 9–12. Please click here for the full press release.