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School Social Work NOW
Supporting Innovative Practice, Effective Leadership & Applied Research
October 2010 - Vol 1, Issue 2 |
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| Quick Links |
American Council for School Social Work
Educator's Guide to the Military Child During Deployment
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| Greetings! |
School social work is one of the most challenging and rewarding professions one can enter. At the same time it can be isolating. Days are long and demands are many. School Social Work NOW will help you to feel connected and keep you abreast of what is occurring on the national educational scene. Response to Intervention (RTI) and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS/PBS) are well under way in districts across the country. But new initiatives are on the horizon: P-16/20 (Cradle to College and Career) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) are close behind. School Social Work NOW will help you to understand these educational reform efforts.
Because ACSSW believes so strongly in you and in our ability to provide you with timely and useful information and tools, you are invited to visit the website School Social Work NOW and register for FREE monthly drawings of books and gifts. Tell your friends!! Get Connected to Innovative Practice, Effective Leadership and Applied Research.
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| Committee for Education Funding Legislative Conference & Gala | |
On September 29th CEF held its annual legislative conference and gala in Washington, D.C. CEF is the largest coalition of education associations in existence "whose goal is to achieve adequate federal financial support for our nation's educational system." In today's challenging environment, this is no small task. Judie Shine, ACSSW president, had the honor of representing school social workers from across the country at this distinguished event.
The morning legislative session offered compelling comments from, among others, persons such as Sen. Jack Reed (RI) who emphasized that the professional development of "teachers and others needs to be emphasized much, much more." Sen. Mary Landrieu (LA) emphatically stated that schools must be "ready to respond to educational needs when disaster strikes." Rep. Judy Chu (CA) is proposing the "Strengthening Our Schools" initiative. And Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ) believes: "Educational funding is the long-term stimulus package. It is an investment in our country." Other powerful comments came from Rep. Nita Lowey (NY) who spoke to the federal education budget, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (CT), co-chair of the House Steering and Policy Committee.
The evening program included welcoming remarks from US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. Honorees included Sen. Tom Harkin (IA) who received the William H. Natcher Distinguished Service Award, his 4th CEF award since 1990, and Rep. David Obey (WI)who was honored with the first Edward M. Kennedy Lifetime Advocacy Award. Rep. Obey is retiring after 41 years in Congress. He leaves large shoes to fill as Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Gala dinner speaker was actor Richard Dreyfuss who addressed the need to reintroduce civics and citizenship into school curriculums in order to "comprehend and maintain this republican democracy." |
| Practice Points | |
October is
National Bullying Prevention Month!
How Widespread Is the Bullying Problem?
Bullying is a widespread problem in the United States.
- Bullying peaks in middle childhood, and decreases over the high school years (Finkelhor, Turner, Ormrod, Hamby, & Kracke, 2009; Goldbaum, Craig, Pepler, & Connolly, 2003; Nansel et al., 2001).
- Studies show that between 15 to 25 percent of U.S. students are bullied with some frequency ("sometimes or more often") while 15 to 20 percent report that they bully others with some frequency (Melton et al., 1998; Nansel et al., 2001). Rates of bullying are higher among younger students; almost 43 percent of 6th graders report having been bullied, compared to about 24 percent of 12th graders (U.S. Department of Justice, 2007). More on bullying.
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying, which is sometimes referred to as online social cruelty or electronic bullying, has been defined as "an aggressive, intentional act carried out by a group or individual, using electronic forms of contact, repeatedly and over time against a victim who cannot easily defend him or herself" (Smith et al., 2008, p. 376). Read more on cyberbullying.
The Gender Factor: Suicide Prevention Programs Need to Adjust for DifferencesSuicide prevention programs should be tailored to gender, according to a new study in Archives of Suicide Research (abstract only). In their analysis of data from the national Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance (YRBS) survey, the researchers examined suicidality around three major risk factors - substance abuse, aggression and victimization, and risky sexual behavior -- in a large sample of high school students. More on Gender Factors
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| Leadership News | |
14 Things a Leader Must Do
[There] are 14 things that some of the most effective leaders in organizations do today to help their organization be successful. These are not focused on managing the company's finances, preparing for Board meetings, or planning strategy; but rather, in addition to those certainly important items (along with many others), these 14 key items help leaders to get in touch with their employees as well as their clients to help the company succeed. Read more. |
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| Research Highlights |
 A Meta-Analysis of Published School Social Work Practice Studies: 1980-2007Authors Cynthia Franklin, Johnny Kim and StephenTripodi systematically examined . . . "the effectiveness of school social work practices using meta-analytic techniques. Method: Hierarchical linear modeling software was used to calculate overall effect size estimates as well as test for between-study variability. Results: A total of 21 studies were included in the final analysis. Unconditional random effects model shows an overall weighted mean effect size estimate of .23 for externalizing problem outcomes and .40 for internalizing problem outcomes; both categories were statistically significant at the p < .05 level. Subgroup analysis for academic outcomes showed mixed results for knowledge, attendance, and grade point average outcome measures. Conclusions: Results highlight the positive impact school social workers may have on student emotional, mental, behavioral, and academic outcomes."
The full text is available to read FREE online only through October 15th. To access it continue here and register on the SAGE website. |
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