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School Social Work NOW
Supporting Innovative Practice, Effective Leadership & Applied Research
April 2011 - Vol 1, Issue 24 |
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| Greetings! | |
Urgent! You may know that the federal government is working on a Continuing Resolution until this Friday, April 8th, for Fiscal Year 2011 funding. The House Majority has made major cuts and is in negotiations with the Senate for further cuts to keep the government running. A new CR is required by this Friday.
Education programs are being considered for termination, and it is highly possible that the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Program (ESSCP) will fall under the ax. While it is called the school counseling program, it also funds the hiring of some school social workers and school psychologists and is the only federal program to do so. If you are one of those school social workers you likely know it. However, we don't want to see anyone--counselor, social worker nor psychologist--cut due to loss of this revenue which will reduce services to students. Please take the time to send a message to Congress by using the sample message. To contact your Congressperson(s) just follow the instructions. In a similar vein, please also visit the Council for Exceptional Children's Economic Impact Survey of 2011.
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 can provide you with some of the tools and practices needed to take up this new challenge. ACSSW's 2nd National Research-to-Practice Summit to be held June 26th-28th at the Hilton Chicago Indian Lakes Resort in Bloomingdale, IL, is coming along and more details will be posted soon. Join like-minded colleagues and learn what their experiences are. Dialogue with university educators and academics. Learn what is on the horizon for school social work!!
This year features:
Sandra Sarmiento, MSW, and Jan Kutter, Team
East Aurora School District 131, IL
Laura Richard, Louisianna State University
Dena Radtke, Coordinator, School Social Work,
Milwaukee Public Schools
Milka Ramirez, Chicago Public Schools
Ami Flammini, IL PBIS Network
Additionally, there will be interactive breakouts as well as 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 efficacy 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. 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.
Monday night will offer an opportunity to sample the "Big City" highlights of Chicago. Watch this newsletter and the ACSSW Website for more information or contact us at Summit 2011 or Judie Shine
Hope to see you in June!!
President |
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SSW Jobs Links | |
New this week:
ConnecticutJobs
Continuing posts: Gorham, ME Wayne, NJ
Evanston, IL (summer) McHenry, IL Chaska, MN
NY, NY: Director of Student Services Old Lyme, CT
Kansas City, MO (p-t) NYC Charter School
Tolleson, AZ (LCSW) Washington, DC Illinois Jobs
Prospect, CT (anticipated) |
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Practice Points |
 How Does RTI Differ from Previous Approaches to Providing Interventions? Brief Video Tessie Rose Bailey of the National Center on Response to Intervention states: "So when the terminology of RTI came out in the new reauthorization of IDEA I think what a lot of schools, districts may have done is just taken what they were originally doing for what we would consider pre-referral or a process of providing interventions prior to students going into special ed and renamed it RTI and when you really look at what RTI is, it's more of a preventative framework as opposed to a pre-referral and that really is the big difference. In a pre-referral strategy what we see is we wait till a student fails in some way, is recognized as failing, is referred to a team, folks try to come up with an intervention that will, in a sense, remediate that deficit before we make a referral to special ed and in RTI we're really looking at a preventative framework and we use, what we refer to as screening tools, to predict who may be at risk for failure as opposed to waiting until a kid fails before they are referred and in a preventative model those students who are screened and who might be at risk for poor learning outcomes then receive interventions to prevent them from having struggles in the future, and those students who then don't respond to highly qualified or highly effective interventions may be referred to special ed." View or download this 5 minute video to learn more about RTI and determine how it might be useful in school social work practice. What Works for Acting-out (Externalizing) Behavior:
Lessons from Experimental Evaluations of Social Interventions
This synthesis presents lessons learned from 123 intervention programs for children and youth that are designed to prevent and/or deter externalizing behavior. Programs were identified by searching LINKS (Lifecourse Interventions to Nurture Kids Successfully),Child Trends' online database of social interventions. All interventions selected for LINKS employ random assignment, experimental studies with intent-to-treat analyses. Because most programs include multiple intervention components, a single impact study is rarely able to identify the core reasons for program success or failure. This literature review attempts to identify strategies and approaches that are effective or ineffective for preventing or reducing externalizing behavior in children and adolescents. Read full review.
"It's Murder Out Today": Middle School Girls Speak Out about Girl Fighting
Girl fighting and its relational context is a problem that is receiving extensive attention in popular and academic circles. This article reports on a project that gathered the opinions from focus groups of seventh- and eighth-grade girls, organized to understand the perspectives of young adolescent girls in middle school on girl fighting. Both individual and contextual themes arose in the findings: the impact of the middle school structure, which differed from the more protected elementary school; the social structure that defined how girls interacted; the loyalty expressed toward members of the peer group and the betrayal felt when the bonds were not respected; the sensitivity that all girls felt toward racial stereotyping and teasing behaviors; the impact of teasing and the emotional reactivity that girls experienced when they felt hurt or betrayed; the differences in coping between seventh-grade and eighth-grade girls; and the school factors that supported or challenged girls' coping. Recommendations for universal schoolwide interventions as well as interventions targeted more specifically toward girls in distress are provided. Read more. |
| Leadership News |
With accountability mandates and the emphasis on science-based interventions, the term indicators is widely used in school circles. However, it often is employed so generically that many users are unclear where it broadly fits into assessment and evaluation practices and decision making for policy and planning. This policy brief (1) defines indicators, (2) places the concept into the context of the various ways indicators can be used in education, (3) explores some specific considerations and concerns that arise in evaluating results, (4) offers a categorization and examples of short-term outcome indicators for school use, and (5) stresses the need for policy makers to expand the accountability framework for schools. Download this brief. |
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| Research Highlights |
 The Impact of Enhancing Students' Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta-Analysis of School-Based Universal Interventions
This article presents findings from a meta-analysis of 213 school-based, universal social and emotional learning (SEL) programs involving 270,034 kindergarten through high school students. Compared to controls, SEL participants demonstrated significantly improved social and emotional skills, attitudes, behavior, and academic performance that reflected an 11-percentile-point gain in achievement. School teaching staff successfully conducted SEL programs. The use of 4 recommended practices for developing skills and the presence of implementation problems moderated program outcomes. The findings add to the growing empirical evidence regarding the positive impact of SEL programs. Policy makers, educators, and the public can contribute to healthy development of children by supporting the incorporation of evidence-based SEL programming into standard educational practice. Full article.
What's Self-Control Got to Do With It?
At the core of social and emotional learning (SEL) are the five SEL competencies that research shows are fundamental to children's well being and success. A recent meta-analysis shows that these skills can be taught in well implemented SEL programming in school. The five competencies are: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and decision-making skills. Self-management, also referred to as self-regulation or self-control, includes the ability to delay gratification, control impulses, modulate emotional expression, pay attention, screen out distractions, and persist in the face of challenge or frustration. Mastery of these abilities has positive outcomes throughout life.
Recent research presented in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, found that childhood self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety later in life. The authors of this study followed 1000 children from birth to 32 years of age and showed the benefits of learning self-control in the first decade of life. Their study showed that children's self-regulation predicted desired outcomes in terms of later health, earnings (based in part on school completion), and likelihood of having been convicted of a criminal offense. News of the research was covered by NPR. Learn about evidence-based SEL programs on CASEL's website. |
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In the News |
Empathic Therapy: An Emerging Field
". . . Genuine empathy, sound ethics and science lead to the following conclusions: that genuine caring engagement is at the heart of all helping relationships; that biological psychiatry with its drugs, electroshock and involuntary treatment is antitherapeutic, unscientific, unethical, and should be opposed; that authoritarianism and pretenses at superior knowledge have no place in therapy; that human beings should be encouraged to pursue their own happiness with the understanding that genuine satisfaction involves ethical loving relationships with others and with life; and that the most effective therapy integrates an individuals highest values, humanistic or religious, into the process." Read more on this controversial therapy.
Autism Treatments Scrutinized in Study
Three new studies conclude that many widely used behavioral and medication treatments for autism have some benefit, one popular alternative therapy doesn't help at all, and there isn't yet enough evidence to discern the best overall treatment... The most conclusive evidence in Monday's reviews, being published in the journal Pediatrics, showed that secretin, a gastrointestinal hormone that is used to treat ulcers, yielded no benefit for children with these disorders. It is unclear how many doctors and families advocate its use, but a 1998 case report of three children stirred excitement by suggesting the children showed social, cognitive and communication improvement after receiving two infusions of secretin... Their findings were more positive when it came to two other types of popular treatments: intensive behavioral intervention and medication. Early intensive behavioral treatments can involve multiple hours of practicing skills with a therapist each week for years. Experts have long advocated their use for improving cognitive and social symptoms, but research to assess their value has been difficult to conduct. Read more.
Data-driven Student Intervention to Go Statewide in Wisconsin
Under a state rule scheduled to go into effect in 2013, all [Wisconsin] school districts will be required to shift to RtI to identify new students with specific learning disabilities, traditionally the largest group of students in special education. Officials are careful to point out that RtI is not the same as special education and that RtI is not a program that can be purchased and implemented uniformly in every school. Instead, they refer to it as a framework that guides a philosophy aimed at identifying and addressing students' learning problems. The goal is to either prevent the students' problems from becoming so bad they are identified for special education or allow students to access special-education services earlier. "We anticipate if Response to Intervention is done correctly, students are going to be identified early on, these needs are going to be addressed in a comprehensive and specific way," said Troy Couillard, assistant director of special education for the state Department of Public Instruction. Read more. |
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Grants & Funding | |
Captain Planet Foundation: Grants for the Environment
The Captain Planet Foundation funds hands-on environmental projects that encourage innovative programs that empower children and youth around the world to work individually and collectively to solve environmental problems in their neighborhoods and communities. Maximum award: $2,500. Eligibility: 501(c)3 organizations. Deadline: June 30, 2011. For more information, click here.
IES Releases FY2012 Funding Announcements for Research and Development Center Competitions
IES has released FY2012 funding announcements for grant competitions in Research and Development Centers. The Special Education Research and Development Center Program (84.324C) includes the following competitions: (1) Special Education Research and Development Center on School-Based Interventions for Secondary Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders, (2) Special Education Research and Development Center on Reading Instruction for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students, (3) Special Education Research and Development Center on Interventions for Families of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders, and (4) Special Education Research and Development Center on Interventions for Families of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. The Education Research and Development Center Program (84.305C) includes the following competitions: (1) National Research and Development Center on Cognition and Adult Literacy and (2) National Research and Development Center on State and Local Policy. Click for more.
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. |
| New Request for Research Assistance | |
New Research: School Social Workers and Reactive Attachment Disorder
Ms. Francesca Bautista is studying Reactive Attachment Disorder at the University of Wisconsin- La Crosse. If you are a social worker, please respond to this short 26 question survey regarding Reactive Attachment Disorder. The results will be used to assess current training and knowledge on Reactive Attachment Disorder. Reactive Attachment Disorder 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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