School nurses are critical components of school-based interdisciplinary teams supporting student behavioral health. The purpose of the present study is to understand the extent to which school nurses in New Mexico across grade levels manage emergencies related to behavioral health, violence, and trauma. The study also seeks to identify which…

Strength-based assessment of behaviors in preschool children provides evidence of emotional and behavioral skills in children, rather than focusing primarily on weaknesses identified by deficit-based assessments. The Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scales (PreBERS) is a normative assessment of emotional and behavioral strengths in…

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) appear to have become more prevalent in the past few years. Many children who display ADD/ADHD tendencies also display behaviors which cause problems in a classroom setting. Considering the fact that these behaviors could be displayed by the student population as…

When the author's 25-year-old daughter Anna applied for a job as a secretary at a charter public school in the Rio Bravo neighborhood of Albuquerque, the principal thought she was overqualified for the job with her degree from St. John's College in Santa Fe. The principal instead asked her to take over for a teacher who was quitting her 6th grade…

This article reports on a randomized controlled trial of the First Step to Success early intervention that was conducted over a 4-year period in Albuquerque Public Schools. First Step is a selected intervention for students in Grades 1 through 3 with externalizing behavior problems, and it addresses secondary prevention goals and objectives. It…

The purpose of this study was to describe New Mexico secondary agricultural education teachers' perceptions of the importance and their level of competence on state special needs inclusion competencies and skills for teaching students with special needs. Additionally, this study sought to determine pre-service and in-service training needs for…

Parents whose learning-disabled son committed suicide after being suspended (without notice) sued the school district for violating the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and their 14th Amendment due-process rights. They won summary judgment on the IDEA claim, but lost the school liability claim. The case will be retried. (MLH)

Of 1,155 American Indian children with behavioral or emotional problems or with a history of abuse or neglect, 67 percent were identified in the survey as abused or neglected. Thirteen tables detail frequency of abuse and neglect by age, sex, living situation, psychiatric symptoms, drug use, school expulsion or running away, and other factors.…