Search

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 was signed into law by President George W. Bush in January 2002 and is regarded as the most significant federal education policy initiative in a generation. The primary focus of the No Child Left Behind Act is on promoting educational success for all children; however, the legislation also contains opportunities to advance school-based mental health. Unfortunately, the complexities of the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act have made it difficult for educators, stakeholders, and mental health professionals to understand the legal and practical interface between No Child Left Behind and the school mental health movement. Therefore, the goals of this article are to (1) raise awareness about the challenges educators and school mental health professionals face as a result of the implementation of No Child Left Behind and (2) provide ideas and recommendations to advance the interface between No Child Left Behind and school mental health, which will support key provisions of the act and the growth of the field.

The IFSW recently adopted a new joint international de.nition of social work, together with the IASSW. The de.nition embraces both traditional social work activities and social development, and addresses social work knowledge, values and practice in an age of globalization. This article analyzes the concepts selected and explains their meaning and signi.cance for the profession.

Characteristics of effective schoolsfor poor and minority children are linked to school social work.