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School Social Work NOW
Supporting Innovative Practice, Effective Leadership & Applied Research
March 2011 - Vol 1, Issue 22 |
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| Greetings! | |
You put all your efforts each day into improving the lives of the students and families in your school or district. You help students by reducing barriers to learning. You provide parents with resources. You consult with teachers about concerns they have regarding students. You make a difference! . . . Or do you?? Can you demonstrate how your services have impacted the learning of your students? Can you show positive outcomes for your efforts? Can you rationalize and utilize evidence-based practices that you suggest be considered?
School social work, as other areas of education, is being called upon to demonstrate the effectiveness of its prevention and intervention efforts. This means YOU need to know what you're talking about! ACSSW's 2nd National Research-to-Practice Summit to be held June 26th-28th at the Hilton Chicago Indian Lakes Resort in Bloomingdale, IL can provide you with some of the tools and practices needed to take up this new challenge.
Features this year include a panel discussion and interactive dialogue on the Changing Role of the School Social Worker. Confirmed panelists and presenters to date include noted school social work researcher and professor, Dr. Andy Frey from the University of Louisville, and social worker/administrator team, Sandra Sarmiento, MSW, and Jan Kutter, Assistant Director of Student Services, from East Aurora School District 131, Aurora, IL. Ms. Sarmiento and Ms. Kutter have--and are--transforming the role of the school social worker in their district. Also in the line-up are Dr. Michael Kelly, Researcher and Assistant Professor, Loyola University Chicago; Dena Radtke, Coordinator, School Social Work, School to Work Transition & Community Service for Milwaukee Public Schools; Laura Richard, Graduate Assistant at Louisianna State University; and Dr. MaryBeth Harris, Clinical Associate Professor, University of Southern California, and more! There will be breakouts in addition to other panels on projects being done within school districts from across the county by school social work practitioners!! These projects are pertinent to the work school social workers engage in every day and will help participants to understand the usefulness of this type of work.
The opportunities to personally engage in this discussion and the National Research Effort are abundant and are only limited by your time and other commitments. This Summit is a forum in which to (1) learn about current research projects, (2) become familiar with research models you can apply in your setting and practice, and (3) showcase your projects to colleagues. Bring your research questions or projects and gain insights and skills by interfacing with colleagues and university level educators and researchers. School teams are encouraged to attend.
Plan to join your colleagues for this unique Summit experience and enjoyable leisure times! Monday night will offer an opportunity to sample the "Big City" highlights of Chicago. Watch this newsletter and the ACSSW Website for more information.
Please contact ACSSW if you have questions, concerns, or ideas on how to improve the newsletter. Your ideas and contributions are very welcome. President |
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SSW Jobs Links | |
New this week: Gorham, ME Wayne, NJ
Evanston, IL (summer) Eau Claire, WI McHenry, IL
NY, NY: Director of Student Services
Continuing posts: Brookfield, CT (p-t; long-term sub)
Old Lyme, CT Kansas City, MO (p-t) Tolleson, AZ (LCSW)
Illinois Jobs |
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Practice Points |
 School Social Work Consultation Models and Response to Intervention: A Perfect Match The 2004 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act introduced the concept of Response to Intervention (RTI). In part, this is an educational prevention approach to maximize student academic achievement and minimize behaviors that interfere with school success. It consists of assessment and intervention practices on multiple levels, including schoolwide, classwide, and individual services. School social work consultation services are in compliance with this federal perspective; however, they are not typically thought about or described in RTI language.This article presents six different school social work consultation models often used in daily school social work practice and maps out their consistency with the RTI paradigm. For more, click here. Hidden Insides: The Voices of the Kids We Know
Seth Rockman writes: "I am a high school social worker in a large, comprehensive Brooklyn, NY high school. Every day, for many years, much like many of you, I observe, I listen, I feel, and I try. And then I go home, always seeking balance. Our work is exhausting, and the kids and parents provoke in us so many emotions, but the call to help never stops ringing. And we keep answering that call, though often without answers. The following are the words and sentiments I've been hearing from kids over the years. Their words come to us through their expressions and actions as much as from their mouths, but whatever form they come to us in, our kids, clients, and students need us to hear them. Imagine the face and voice of a young person you care about." Read his compelling plea at The New Social Worker Online.
Children in Immigrant Families: Ensuring Opportunity for Every Child in America
Children in immigrant families account for nearly one-fourth (24 percent) of all children as of 2010, and the vast majority (88 percent) are U.S. citizens. In fact, children of immigrants account for nearly the entire growth in the U.S. child population between 1990 and 2008.1 This policy brief draws on key indicators from the Foundation for Child Development Child Well-Being Index (CWI), as well as additional data, to highlight both similarities and differences in the circumstances of children in immigrant and native-born families. Download this report. |
| Leadership News |
Psychologist Kurt Lewin identified three major leadership styles. Learn which best describes your leadership style in this quick 18 question quiz. Knowing your leadership style can help to move your group toward good decisions and effective practices.
Positive Behavior Support: A Call for Leadership
Positive behavior support (PBS) is being implemented in more than 5,300 schools in the United States. In this article, the authors review the conceptual components, implementation features, and evidence base of PBS; discuss its implementation at the preschool level; and explore implications for school social work practice. Whether starting PBS efforts in schools or districts or becoming involved in existing efforts, school social workers can achieve their goals through PBS and enhance the visibility and status of school social work within their local education agency. Given the popularity of this recent trend, the similarities between PBS and school social work practice, and the emerging evidence base associated with this approach, school social workers are encouraged to provide leadership to existing PBS efforts in their schools or to begin such efforts in schools that have not initiated this approach. Click for the complete article. |
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| Research Highlights | |
Study Tracks Drug-Related Teen Suicides
Teenage girls are about three times as likely as boys to attempt suicide for drug-related reasons, according to an analysis of emergency-room visits. A government study also found boys are far more likely to attempt drug-related suicide in the month of December, while the suicide rate for girls stays fairly steady throughout the year. The study, conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, found an average of 178,423 ER visits a year from 2004 to 2008 for drug-related suicide attempts involving people age 12 or older. The study looked at the percentage and timing of such attempts among adolescents ages 12 to 17, adults ages 18 to 49 and adults age 50 and older. The study also tracked the number of visits each month to see if there was seasonal variation in the data... But the study found that for the population as a whole, there was little seasonal variation in drug-related suicide attempts... the total number of drug-related suicide attempts by girls was 15,552 a year on average. For boys, that number was 5,283. Read more.
School-based Intervention to Improve the Mental Health of Low Income, Secondary School Students in Santiago, Chile (YPSA) Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial
Background: Depression is common and can have devastating effects on the life of adolescents. Psychological interventions are the first-line for treating or preventing depression among adolescents. This proposal aims to evaluate a school-based, universal psychological intervention to reduce depressive symptoms among student's aged 13-14 attending municipal state secondary schools in Santiago, Chile. Study design: This is a cluster randomized controlled trial with schools as the main clusters. We compared this intervention with a control group in a study involving 22 schools, 66 classes and approximately 2,600 students. Click here for the full text of this Open Access Journal article. |
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In the News |
Ron Avi Astor, PhD, Wins Award for School Violence Research
The Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) gave its 2011 Excellence in Research Award to USC School of Social Work professor Ron Astor for his study on school violence in Israel schools. . .
Astor's study, which was co-authored with doctoral candidate Jose Nunez Estrada and Rami Benbenishty of Israel's Bar Ilan University, examined nine "atypical" schools in Israel that report little campus violence despite being located in violent communities. The research team determined that the most important variable in these schools was the leadership and that principals who emphasized school reform were the most successful in keeping violence at bay.
Indian Youth Suicides Baffle
...Suicide is the second-leading cause of death behind unintentional injuries among Indian children and young adults, and is on the rise, according to the Indian Health Service. Native Americans ages 10 to 24 killed themselves at more than twice the rate of similarly aged whites, according to the most recent data available from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On the Fort Peck reservation, five children killed themselves during the 2009-2010 school year at Poplar Middle School - enrollment about 160 - and 20 more of the 7th and 8th graders tried. In the current school year, two young adults have committed suicide, though none at Poplar Middle School. Emergency teams from the U.S. Public Health Service descended upon Fort Peck last June after Sioux and Assiniboine leaders declared a crisis. The teams provided counseling and mental health services to assist the overworked counselors and strained resources of the reservation. No suicides were recorded during the 90-day deployment of the federal health team. When they packed their bags in October and left a detailed report with a dozen recommendations, the Indian Health Service declared the crisis had passed - a view repeated to The Associated Press last month by IHS behavioral health director Dr. Rose Weahkee.But it proved to be only a lull. Two more teenagers killed themselves since October and dozens of other children across the reservation have tried. Read more. |
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Grants & Funding | |
Grants Available to Prevent Dating Violence and Stalking in Secondary Schools
The U.S. Department of Justice STEP Program was created to help middle and high schools develop and implement effective training, services, prevention strategies, policies, and coordinated community responses for student victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking. Deadline is April 6. Read the application guidebook before applying. Complete application packet.
IES Releases FY2012 Funding Announcement for Six Grant Competitions in Education Research and Training Connecting Research, Policy and Practice
IES has released FY2012 funding announcements for grant competitions in education and special education research and training. The six competitions are: Education Research Grants (84.305A); Special Education Research Grants (84.324A); Postdoctoral Research Training Program in the Education Sciences (84.305B); Postdoctoral Research Training Program in Special Education (84.324B); Statistical and Research Methodology in Education (84.305D); and Evaluation of State and Local Education Programs and Policies (84.305E). The Request for Applications for each competition is available at Applications. IES will announce additional competitions in late March. |
| New Request for Research Assistance | |
New Survey: Factors Impacting School Social Workers
FBAs and BIPs are "naturals" for school social workers. Your participation in this brief 10 minute survey would further the knowledge base about and of school social workers. Dan Koonce, PhD, Technical Assistance Coordinator with the Illinois State Technical Assistance Center-PBIS Network, is principal investigator on this study. If you choose to participate, you will be asked to respond to items regarding the activities you are engaged in as a school social worker. Please read the Consent Form, which explains the experimental procedures and your participation in more detail. Click here to participate: Factors Impacting School Social Workers.
ADHD and Collaboration Processes in Schools
"I am a doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy and Practice seeking school social workers in urban elementary school settings to complete an online survey about ADHD and collaboration processes in schools for use towards research for a doctoral dissertation. Participation is voluntary, confidential and anonymous. Completion of the survey takes approximately 10 minutes and can be done from any computer with internet access. If you are interested, or know of anyone who may meet the criteria for participation and would be interested in completing the survey, below you will find the link to a secure database for completion of the survey." For more information contact: Mery Diaz, LCSW, Doctoral Student, University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Policy and Practice Short survey link or Full survey link
An Examination of Homophobia and Social Work Practice Among a Sample of School Social Workers
Milka Ramírez, MSW, a member of the American Council for School Social Work and the School Social Work Association of America and a school social worker in Chicago, is conducting her doctoral research and would like you to participate in the 30 minute survey. Please take time to support this important research. Click the following link to participate in this essential work: Homophobia & Social Work |
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ACSSW Activities | |
ACSSW's present major activities include:
- increasing research projects and their application within the school environment,
- developing a national school social work role paper,
- a more long-term goal, establishing a National Center for School Social Work Research, and,
- developing the 2nd National School Social Work Research Summit to be held June 26-28 in Bloomingdale, IL, at the Hilton Indian Lakes Resort.
If you have interest in assisting with one or more of these projects, don't hesitate to contact Judie Shine. ACSSW strives to be inclusive and transparent in all of its activities and welcomes the participation, whether short or lengthy, of its members. |
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