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School Social Work Now!
Supporting Innovative Practice, Effective
Leadership & Applied Research
November 2011 - Vol 2, Issue 11 |
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Bookmark These |
Some Free, Some Not
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Greetings! | |
Thanksgiving Day is just around the corner. Despite many challenges or disappointments in our professional or personal lives, we school social workers have much to be thankful for. Among the many gifts we at ACSSW enjoy are marvelous colleagues like you and passion for a profession that truly helps children, youth and their families! Since you will be busy celebrating the people and things you are thankful for, there will be no e-newsletter next Thursday. It will resume December 1st. ACSSW wishes you a blessed holiday.
Please put these items on your professional "To Do" list and reference list:
- ACSSW has received a request from member Steve Button in Lewiston, ID. Steve is seeking copies of evaluation forms for school social work. If you can help out, please email Steve a copy of the social work evaluation form used in your district. If you also send ACSSW a copy, we will place the collection on the website for easy access to all.
- From June 24-26, 2012, the 3rd National ACSSW Summit on School Social Work Research and Practice will be held near Chicago. We have issued the ACSSW CALL FOR PROPOSALS. Deadline for submission is December 10, 2011. Please consider sending a proposal and spread the word among your colleagues. The proposal can be done quickly online.
- New Orleans!! ACSSW is hosting a first-ever Louisiana-based school social work conference in exciting New Orleans from January 30-31, 2012! In collaboration with the Louisiana Department of Education, Tulane University, Louisiana State University, and school social work leaders, this program is designed to address the needs and interests of school social workers. Check out the downloadable New Orleans Conference Brochure describing the Evolving Roles in School Social Work Practice. School teams of 3 or more will be granted a discount when registrations are submitted together via fax or snail mail. For more information on Team registration contact: Sally Carlson. Talk to your colleagues! Bring your supervisor!! Register online now.
- CEUs (11+) for the New Orleans conference are in the approval process. As soon as approval is granted, that information will be made public.
- Take advantage of the weekend prior to the conference with a family getaway or a romantic weekend. Check out Three Days in New Orleans to plan your mini-vacation. Enjoy discovering the bayous, Garden District, art, museums, music, food, French Quarter, architecture . . . The list goes on and on. Learn about Free Things to Do in New Orleans.
- Room reservations can be made at the Drury Inn & Suites, New Orleans for a low $104/night, single through quad. The conference price is available 3 days before and after Monday, January 30th, so plan to come early. Rooms are limited so secure reservations by January 15th!
Judith Kullas Shine
President |
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Professional Development Opportunities |
It's Fall!! And that means it's time to take advantage of one or more of the many professional growth opportunities across the country. This link includes state, national and international professional development opportunities. New events are added several times a month. If you represent an organization with PDOs of interest to school social workers, please contact ACSSW with details. All submissions will be considered for posting based upon relevance, timing, and interest level.
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Recommended Read for November | |
School Social Work: An Evidence-Informed Framework for Practice
by M. Kelly, J. Raines, S. Stone & A. Frey
Reviews at Oxford University Press
"This text will become an instant classic for its scholarship and readability. Each chapter is filled with information for improving school social work practice using the available research evidence at every level of intervention. In this extraordinarily engaging practice book, Kelly and colleagues show practitioners the process for asking important questions about what constitutes effective school social work practice and provide specific strategies for practitioners to use when improving their practices." -Cynthia Franklin, PhD, Professor and Stiernberg/Spencer Family Professor in Mental Health, University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work
"School Social Work is a timely and valuable resource for school social work students and practitioners. The authors of this book draw upon their extensive experience as school social work practitioners, educators, and scholars to provide practitioners and students with a process for bridging the gap between research and practice. Their chapter on iatrogenic effects is notable since this topic is rarely addressed in school social work practice texts." -David R. Dupper, PhD, Associate Professor of Social Work, University of Tennessee
Oxford Univ. Press-SSW/Kelly Better World Books-SSW/Kelly |
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Practice Points | |
Addiction Is a Family Problem: The Process of Addiction for Families
The author speaks to addiction as a brain disorder and to the process of addiction for families. No one starts out with a goal of being an addict, but as the individual becomes more involved with his/her addiction, the action or lack of action on the part of the family has impact. Focus is often on the abused substance rather than on the addict, per se. Family members often find their feelings changing and confused. Read more at Liana Lowenstein's website.
Paternal Depression May Raise Risk of Kids' Emotional Problems
Children whose fathers had depressive symptoms more likely were to suffer from emotional or behavioral problems, compared with children of fathers without depression, according to a study in Pediatrics of more than 22,000 children living with both parents. Lead researcher Michael Weitzman said that children's risk for emotional or behavioral problems was doubled if the father was depressed, tripled if the mother was depressed and fourfold higher if both parents were depressed. Read more. Full text PDF here.
PBIS: Words of Hope
When Best Practice Language (BPL) is used consistently and modeled effectively in the classroom, teachers and students can experience positive behavior outcomes. These student behavior outcomes can serve as a catalyst for a Culture of Hope in the classroom and at the school wide level. In a Culture of Hope, all members of the school expect to experience the hope of better days and better ways! Better days: where students and teachers offer their best to one another. Better ways: where everyone works to find promising paths to individual success! BPL reverberates into a cycle of promise that feeds on itself and generates excitement and enthusiasm about-"Why we're all here." Read more and find related posts.
The Effect of Charter Schools on Student Achievement: A Meta-analysis of the Literature
Abstract: Charter schools are largely viewed as a major innovation in the public school landscape, as they receive more independence from state laws and regulations than do traditional public schools, and are therefore more able to experiment with alternative curricula, pedagogical methods, and different ways of hiring and training teachers. Unlike traditional public schools, charters may be shut down by their authorizers for poor performance. But how is charter school performance measured? What are the effects of charter schools on student achievement?
Assessing literature that uses either experimental (lottery) or student-level growth-based methods, this analysis infers the causal impact of attending a charter school on student performance. Download full document here. |
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Leadership News | |
Visions are the first step in the goal setting and planning process. While mission statements guide the organization in its day-to-day operations, visions provide a sense of direction in the long term - they provide the means to the future.
Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus (2007) conclude, "Leaders articulate and define what has previously remained implicit or unsaid; then they invent images, metaphors, and models that provide a focus for new attention. By so doing, they consolidate or challenge prevailing wisdom. In short, an essential factor in leadership is the capacity to influence and organize meaning for the members of the organization."
They continue, "Managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing. The difference may be summarized as activities of vision and judgment - effectiveness verses activities of mastering routine - efficiency." Bennis and Nanus describe leaders as "creating dangerously" . . . Read more.
Leading an SEL School: Steps to Implement Social and Emotional Learning for All Students
This brief highlights the role that a social and emotional learning approach can play in accomplishing the five Safe Schools/Healthy Students elements, and the SEL implementation process is concisely presented. Download here.
Developing a Leadership Strategy: A Critical Ingredient for Organizational Success
Organizations depend upon capable leadership to guide them through unprecedented changes. Yet, there is ample evidence in the news and in recent research reports that even some of the best and most venerable organizations are failing to adapt to change, implement their strategic plans successfully or prepare for a more uncertain future. We believe the turmoil we are currently observing has something to do with leadership, and that if we don't change our current approach to leadership development, we will see even more of the same. . . Every leader is aware of the value of a well-defined business strategy. Few, however, give thought to the leadership that will be required to implement strategies that call for changes in the direction or capabilities of the organization.
Without proper leadership, even the best and boldest strategies die on the vine, their potential never realized. This paper defines what a leadership strategy is and how to go about creating one for your organization that will forever change the way you develop leaders and create new leadership capabilities. Click here to continue. |
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Research Highlights | |
 Rat Study Ties Perinatal Antidepressant Use to Autism-like Brain Abnormalities
A new study shows that immature rats given a common antidepressant can exhibit brain abnormalities and behaviors characteristic of autism spectrum disorders. Researchers believe the findings suggest that taking a certain class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during pregnancy may be a factor in the rise in childhood developmental disorders. "We saw behaviors in the treated rats and neurological problems that indicate their brains are not properly conducting and processing information," said Rick C.S. Lin, Ph.D., principal investigator on the study. Lin is a professor of neurobiology and anatomical sciences at University of Mississippi Medical Center. "However, based on this study alone it would be premature to conclude that a pregnant mother should stop taking SSRIs. A pregnant mother may do more harm to her baby through untreated depression than by taking prescribed SSRIs. This study is a starting point and a lot more research needs to be done." The study appears online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Full study.
Cross-cultural Recognition of Basic Emotions Through Nonverbal Emotional Vocalizations
Emotional signals are crucial for sharing important information, with conspecifics, for example, to warn humans of danger. Humans use a range of different cues to communicate to others how they feel, including facial, vocal, and gestural signals. We examined the recognition of nonverbal emotional vocalizations, such as screams and laughs, across two dramatically different cultural groups. Western participants were compared to individuals from remote, culturally isolated Namibian villages. Vocalizations communicating the so-called "basic emotions" (anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, and surprise) were bidirectionally recognized. In contrast, a set of additional emotions was only recognized within, but not across, cultural boundaries. Our findings indicate that a number of primarily negative emotions have vocalizations that can be recognized across cultures, while most positive emotions are communicated with culture-specific signals. Access complete study here. |
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In the News | |
Study Shows Teen Suicide Spike When School Is In Session
It's dismaying that any young and healthy high school student living an ordinary life could feel so overcome with despair that suicide is even contemplated. And so, whenever a teenage suicide happens, we try to find out what went wrong. Was the victim coping with extreme bullying, unwanted pregnancy, sexual abuse, parental divorce, a traumatic break-up with a boyfriend or girlfriend, or drug abuse? Was there anything out of the ordinary that might have made a teenager feel so despondent and unable to cope? But teen suicide isn't so rare. It's the third leading cause of death for teenagers, and the rate has tripled since 1960. And, often, the victim's problems seem puzzlingly ordinary. So, what if the key underlying cause is something ordinary, something we think is good for young people, something we require because we think it will help them enjoy bright futures? That is, what if the underlying cause of fatal despair for high school kids is high school itself? That's pretty much the conclusion of the two researchers who published "Back to School Blues: Seasonality of Youth Suicide and the Academic Calendar." Revealing suicide statistics were found by the authors, Benjamin Hansen of the Economics Department at the University of Oregon, and Matthew Lang of the Department of Economics at the Williams College of Business, Xavier University. Full article here.
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Research Survey Request for Assistance | |
Bibliotherapy & School Social Workers
I am a doctoral student at Dominican University's Graduate School of Library and Information Science, River Forest, Illinois. I am seeking school social workers to complete an online survey about bibliotherapy for use towards research for a doctoral dissertation. For the purposes of this research bibliotherapy is defined as the use of books or other reading materials (poetry, magazines, comic books, etc) to assist with the counseling process. Participation is voluntary, confidential and anonymous. Completion of the survey should take approximately 30 minutes and can be done from any computer with internet access. If you are an interested social worker, or know of a school social worker who would be interested, the survey link is below. For more information, contact: Elizabeth Garcia, Doctoral Student, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Dominican University. Thank you in advance for your participation. Bibliotherapy Survey Link. |
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Grants & Funding | |
Search Tool Helps Users Find Grants to Fund Youth Programs
The Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs has created an online Web Tool that allows users to search for federal grant opportunities by youth topic or federal agency. The tool uses a filter to search for grants that are likely to fund youth programs. To learn more and determine if you are eligible, click here.
ING Unsung Heroes Award
ING Unsung Heroes began in 1995as a way for ING to demonstrate its commitment to the education community. Grants are given to K-12 educators utilizing new teaching methods and techniques that improve learning. Each year, educators submit applications for an ING Unsung Heroes grant by describing projects they have initiated or would like to pursue. Each project is judged on its:
innovative method, creativity, and ability to positively influence the students. All K-12 education professionals, whether or not they are clients of ING, are eligible. Specifically, these individuals must be: (1) Employed by an accredited K-12 public or private school located in the United States, or (2) Full-time educators, teachers, principals, paraprofessionals, orclassified staff with effective projects that improve student learning. Deadline: April 30, 2012. Details here.
NEA Myra Sadker Student and Teacher Awards
The Myra Sadker Foundation supports educational equity efforts for students and teachers to advance social justice. Myra Sadker was a pioneer in creating fair classrooms for all students. These awards build upon her work. Teacher Awards fund a lesson, unit, or project that promotes fairness and human dignity. Student Awards fund projects or activities proposed by students of any age that promote the goals of the Myra Sadker Foundation. Dissertation Awards are designed to financially support doctoral level dissertations that explore or promote educational equity. Deadline: December 1, 2011. More. Sadker Foundation Website.
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Invites Applications for Dissertation Fellowships in Education
The fellowships are intended to support doctoral students for work done after the successful defense of their dissertations. Although applicants must be candidates for a doctoral degree at a graduate school in the United States, they need not be U.S. citizens. Applications are encouraged from a variety of disciplines, including but not limited to education, sociology, economics, psychology, statistics, and psychometrics.
The fellowship is a one-time award of up to $25,000, which may be used for a period of not less than nine months and up to eighteen months. Four fellowships will be awarded. Complete program information and the application form are available at the Cooke Foundation Web site. Deadline: February 3, 2012. Link to complete RFP.
Libri Foundation: Books for Children
TheLibri Foundation Books for Children Grants donate new, quality, hardcover children's books for small, rural, public libraries across the country. Maximum award: varies. Eligibility: Libraries should be in a rural area, have a limited operating budget, and an active children's department. The average total operating budget of a Books for Children grant recipient must be less than $40,000. Deadline: January 23, 2012. Application Guidelines. |
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ACSSW Activities | |
ACSSW's present activities include:
- increasing research projects and their application within the school environment;
- developing a national school social work role paper;
- establishing a National Center for School Social Work Practice, Leadership and Research, a long-term goal,
- hosting the first Louisiana State-wide School Social Work Conference, January 30-31, 2012, in New Orleans, LA, and
- developing the 3rd National School Social Work Research Summit to be held June 24-26, 2012, in Bloomingdale, IL (a Chicago suburb) at the Hilton Chicago/Indian Lakes Resort.
If you have interest in participating in any of these activities, contact Judie Shine. ACSSW strives to be inclusive and transparent in all of its activities and welcomes, whether lengthy or short, the participation of its members. |
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