Background: School-based health centers (SBHCs) have been shown to offer substantial benefits to students but we know little about how the public thinks about them. We sought to assess US public attitudes about SBHCs and the provision of 7 health service lines--primary care, preventive care, vaccinations, preventive dental care, preventive vision…

Background: Approximately 20% of the American schoolchildren have a vision problem. Children from low-income urban areas have been shown to have more than twice the normal rate of vision problems. This study evaluated the effectiveness of A Vision for Success, a school-based program designed to provide eyeglasses to children in a timely manner in…

Objectives: To outline the prevalence and disparities of vision problems among school-aged urban minority youth, causal pathways through which vision problems adversely affects academic achievement, and proven or promising approaches for schools to address these problems. Methods: Literature review. Results: More than 20% of school-aged youth have…

The most commonly used chart for testing eye acuity is the Snellen Chart, developed more than 100 years ago. A description is given of the way this chart works, its uses, and its limitations. (JD)

The vision screening program has a long and interesting history involving educators, pediatricians, optometrists, and ophthamologists. This historical review of vision screening in the schools includes a discussion of amblyopia and screening of preschool students. (Author/CB)

Tests of preschool children have revealed that children from low income groups have more visual problems than children from higher income families; it is suggested that comprehensive vision screening be provided children upon reaching school age so that problems can be corrected early. (JD)

The results of Minnesota's mandated screening program show the importance of combining health and developmental screening findings and the limitations of focusing on special education-related problems. Mandated, comprehensive health screening programs can be economically and effectively implemented in the public school system. (JD)

This article discusses the importance of providing vision screening services to students who are difficult-to-test and describes strategies for providing such services. Included in the discussion is an overview of various instruments that may be used to test visual acuity, including the Parsons Visual. (Authors/JMK)

This study followed children retrospectively from kindergarten through 12th grade to examine incidence of abnormal school vision screening tests and rates of follow-up by specialists. School vision screening provided first indication of abnormal visual acuity in 76% of the children. Results support the notion that school vision screening is…

Identified barriers that delay seeking professional care following school vision screening. Focus groups of parents, students, teachers, school and community health professionals, and community leaders highlighted several barriers, including lack of community awareness about certain visual problems, high costs of glasses, inconvenient appointment…