This study investigates barriers to facilitating family-school partnerships with immigrant families as identified by teachers in an urban school district with high rates of immigration. Participants consisted of 18 elementary teachers who identified predominantly as Hispanic (38.9%) or non-Hispanic White (33.3%), were frequently bilingual (55.6%), and were mostly female (94.4%) with an average age of 36.5 years. Participants engaged in focus group interviews that were transcribed and open-coded. Barriers to engagement for immigrant families fell into 3 broad areas: language and culture, family resources, and families' undocumented status. Many teachers attributed the barriers preventing parental collaboration to school policies (94.4%) and ineffective communication strategies (83.3%). Teachers also identified barriers as emanating from the families themselves, including families not attending school functions (88.9%) and being unresponsive to school-initiated communication (72.2%). Teachers noted that many families lacked resources necessary for school engagement (88.9%) and were hesitant to become engaged with schools due to required screening procedures (55.6%). Overall, numerous barriers to effective family engagement were identified, several of which are directly related to immigration and residency status. Given the strong evidence suggesting that family engagement in education mediates risk for children of recent immigrants, strategies to foster meaningful engagement for all families are desperately needed (Naughton, 2004). Roles for school psychologists to facilitate effective family-school partnerships are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Pediatric health care providers are in a unique position to discuss the health implications of alcohol, tobacco, and drug use with adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with type 1 diabetes (T1D). This study evaluated the frequency of self-reported substance use and associated demographic and clinical characteristics in a sample of AYAs with T1D and patient-provider discussions of substance use in T1D care. Sixty-four AYAs completed questions about substance use from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Corresponding diabetes clinic visits were audio-recorded, transcribed, and reviewed to examine substance use discussions. A total of 56.3% of AYAs reported ever engaging in substance use; 40.6% reported substance use within the past 30 days. Five AYAs had discussions about substance use during their most recent diabetes clinic visit. Substance use should be proactively addressed by pediatric health care providers and AYAs should be encouraged to raise questions related to substance use during clinic visits.

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Educators' excessive uses of exclusionary discipline have led to increased placements of students in disciplinary alternative schools, but few studies examine student experiences after their alternative school placements. Using a theoretical framework informed by critical race theory and the role of the discourse of safety in student discipline, we compose the counternarratives of nine middle school students' experiences with the transition from an involuntary disciplinary placement back to a comprehensive school. We then analyze across cases to identify commonalities in their stories. Findings show that students experience dehumanization and exclusion that reflect second-class citizenship. We discuss how educators can resist perpetuating this under class even as the overtly racist rhetoric of populist nationalism replaces the neoliberal color-blind version of the discourse of safety. Zero tolerance and disciplinary alternative schoolsEducators' increased use of exclusionary discipline in the United States has led to more frequent student placements in disciplinary alternative schools (Carver, Lewis, and Tice 2010). Assignments to disciplinary alternative schools have increased due to the proliferation of zero tolerance policies at the state, district, and school levels that require administrators to suspend or expel all students who commit certain infractions (Vaught 2011). Despite the 'color-blind' nature of these policies, educators implement them in racialized ways resulting in a discipline gap between White students and students of color as well as those from low-income backgrounds (Casella 2003;Gregory, Skiba, and Noguera 2010;Howard 2008;Skiba et al. 2002). Students of color are disciplined over three times more frequently than White students, and primarily for behaviors such as 'willful defiance, ' which educators judge subjectively (Skiba et al. 2002; US Department of Education 2014). Consequently, students of color comprise the majority of school suspensions, expulsions, and assignments to disciplinary alternative schools (Booker and Mitchell 2011; Hilberth and Slate 2014; US Department of Education 2014).