2015 has proved to be another active year for charter public school legislation across the country. For starters, we saw significant activity regarding potential enabling legislation in several of the states without charter public school laws. Most notably, Alabama became the 43rd state to enact a charter school law.

We saw a handful of states lift restrictions on growth. For example, New York made some important adjustments to its cap to allow more charter public school growth in New York City and more charter-authorizing activity by the State University of New York. In addition, Oklahoma expanded charters statewide.

2015 has proved to be another active year for charter public school legislation across the country. For starters, we saw significant activity regarding potential enabling legislation in several of the states without charter public school laws. Most notably, Alabama became the 43rd state to enact a charter school law.

We saw a handful of states lift restrictions on growth. For example, New York made some important adjustments to its cap to allow more charter public school growth in New York City and more charter-authorizing activity by the State University of New York. In addition, Oklahoma expanded charters statewide.

A new study at 10 community colleges across the nation reveals that half of the more than 4,000 community college students surveyed are experiencing a current or recent mental health condition. Less than half of these students are receiving any mental health services. Students age 25 and younger are especially likely to have an untreated mental health condition. As mental illness can impair academic success and quality of life, there is a clear need for greater attention to and resources for mental health services and programs on community college campuses.

Disordered eating and body image dissatisfaction are common on college and university campuses, yet relative to other mental health problems common in student populations (e.g., depression and anxiety), considerably less is known about clinical and sub-clinical eating disorders. The Healthy Bodies Study (HBS) takes a public health approach by assessing a range of eating and body image measures at the population-level. HBS encompasses a number of related projects that seek to explore and address the prevalence and correlates of disordered eating and body image dissatisfaction and the help-seeking habits and attitudes of students with apparent need.

The undergraduate years coincide with age of onset for eating disorders (19-25 years), presenting unique opportunities for early intervention on college campuses. Unfortunately, this opportunity is largely missed. The treatment gap -- the proportion of affected students not receiving treatment -- is wide: 80% of students with clinically significant symptoms do not receive care. Left untreated, eating disorders typically become more severe and refractory to treatment. In response to this, the HBS team developed and implemented a 12-week online intervention to identify students with untreated symptoms of eating disorders and promote help-seeking.

The pilot study was conducted during the winter/spring 2015 semester on four college and university campuses. To ensure feasibility, the study was limited to four campuses while making every effort to ensure that these sites represented a diverse set of schools. The sites were: Appalachian State University, Bard College, Mercyhurst University, and University of Michigan.

Disordered eating and body image dissatisfaction are common on college and university campuses, yet relative to other mental health problems common in student populations (e.g., depression and anxiety), considerably less is known about clinical and sub-clinical eating disorders. The Healthy Bodies Study (HBS) takes a public health approach by assessing a range of eating and body image measures at the population-level. HBS encompasses a number of related projects that seek to explore and address the prevalence and correlates of disordered eating and body image dissatisfaction and the help-seeking habits and attitudes of students with apparent need.

The undergraduate years coincide with age of onset for eating disorders (19-25 years), presenting unique opportunities for early intervention on college campuses. Unfortunately, this opportunity is largely missed. The treatment gap -- the proportion of affected students not receiving treatment -- is wide: 80% of students with clinically significant symptoms do not receive care. Left untreated, eating disorders typically become more severe and refractory to treatment. In response to this, the HBS team developed and implemented a 12-week online intervention to identify students with untreated symptoms of eating disorders and promote help-seeking.

The pilot study was conducted during the winter/spring 2015 semester on four college and university campuses. To ensure feasibility, the study was limited to four campuses while making every effort to ensure that these sites represented a diverse set of schools. The sites were: Appalachian State University, Bard College, Mercyhurst University, and University of Michigan.

HMS is an annual web-based survey study examining mental health, service utilization, and related issues among undergraduate and graduate students. Since its national launch in 2007, HMS has been fielded at over 100 colleges and universities, with over 100,000 survey respondents.

What is unique about HMS?

HMS is one of the only annual surveys of college and university populations that focuses exclusively on mental health and related issues, allowing for substantial detail in this area. The study has a special emphasis on understanding service utilization and help-seeking behavior, including factors such as stigma, knowledge, and the role of peers and other potential gatekeepers. The study also allows colleges and universities to examine how mental health symptoms predict academic outcomes (GPA and retention), which is translated into an economic case for mental health services and programs.

HMS is an annual web-based survey study examining mental health, service utilization, and related issues among undergraduate and graduate students. Since its national launch in 2007, HMS has been fielded at over 100 colleges and universities, with over 100,000 survey respondents.

What is unique about HMS?

HMS is one of the only annual surveys of college and university populations that focuses exclusively on mental health and related issues, allowing for substantial detail in this area. The study has a special emphasis on understanding service utilization and help-seeking behavior, including factors such as stigma, knowledge, and the role of peers and other potential gatekeepers. The study also allows colleges and universities to examine how mental health symptoms predict academic outcomes (GPA and retention), which is translated into an economic case for mental health services and programs.

By supporting the adoption of evidence-based PreK -- 3 policies and practices, The McKnight Foundation's Pathway Schools Initiative seeks to dramatically increase the percentage of proficient third-grade readers in high need schools. To support real-time learning, decisionmaking, and improvement of new practices, programs, and policies, The McKnight Foundation has engaged Pathway Schools Initiative leaders in a developmental evaluation (DE) of highpriority questions of practical interest. DE is a collaborative effort that begins with identification of a question about challenges or new approaches to meeting students', teachers', and other critical stakeholders' needs. DE then supports continuous improvement by gathering data and offering rapid, relevant feedback to the initiative leaders, who develop action plans based on the implications of the findings. The DE team was composed of two to three leaders from each of the participating schools and districts1 and staff members from McKnight, the Urban Education Institute (UEI) at the University of Chicago, SRI International, and Child Trends. This learning brief summarizes the team's first DE question, research methods, findings, and action plans. The team intends to address two to three DE questions each year.