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School Social Work Now!
Supporting Innovative Practice,
Effective Leadership & Applied Research
June 2013 - Vol 3, Issue 36
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Greetings!
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There's still time to help! ACSSW is collaborating with GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) and other prominent national education organizations on a research study of school social workers, counselors, and psychologists, and their roles in creating safe and affirming learning environments for our nation's youth. Please help by taking 20 minutes to complete the survey.
Save the date!! ACSSW is hosting a multi-professional Mental Health in Schools Institute in Milwaukee, WI, on September 30, 2013. Ten 3-hour seminars will focus on trauma, motivational interviewing, and ethics and boundaries in use of technology, to name a few of the exciting offerings. Designed for school social workers, this professional development program will also be open to all pupil service providers and community mental health providers. CEUs for social workers will be available. To learn more and to register, click here. A Message from the Collaborative on Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning:"On May 8, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) introduced bipartisan legislation to support students' positive development and academic success through social and emotional learning. You can help by calling or emailing your U.S. representative today and encourage them to co-sponsor the bill. The Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning Act of 2013 (HR 1875) will expand the availability of evidence-based programs that teach students social and emotional skills such as self-control, goal setting, collaboration, conflict resolution, and problem-solving. More than two decades of scientific research has shown these skills to improve academic achievement and promote positive school climate. Reps. Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa), Tom Petri (R-Wis.) and Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) are original co-sponsors on the bill. Please contact your representative and ask him or her to co-sponsor HR 1875. Learn more about HR1875 and how to contact your legislator."
Over the summer, please start to think about how you can promote School Mental Health Awareness in Fall. We can help to fight the stigma that many incur due to misinformation and fear. Next issue: July 11, 2013. Have a safe, Happy 4th of July!
Judith Kullas Shine
President
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Recommended Read for June
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The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science
by Norman Doidge
An astonishing new science called "neuroplasticity" is overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the human brain is immutable. In this revolutionary look at the brain, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Norman Doidge, M.D., provides an introduction to both the brilliant scientists championing neuroplasticity and the people whose lives they've transformed. For school social workers, this raises interesting issues for students with learning problems.
"Only a few decades ago, scientists considered the brain to be fixed or 'hardwired' and considered most forms of brain damage, therefore, to be incurable. Dr. Doidge, an eminent psychiatrist and researcher, was struck by how his patients' own transformations belied this and set out to explore the new science of neuroplasticity by interviewing both scientific pioneers in neuroscience, and patients who have benefited from neurorehabilitation. Here he describes in fascinating personal narratives how the brain, far from being fixed, has remarkable powers of changing its own structure and compensating for even the most challenging neurological conditions. Doidge's book is a remarkable and hopeful portrait of the endless adaptability of the human brain." - Oliver Sack, MD
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Come on .. . Follow Us!!
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Social media has become one of the primary ways to communicate and advertise widely. Please help ACSSW to
become more widely known. Click on one or more of the links below and tell your friends about us. Thanks!!
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Practice Points
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from Liana Lowenstein's website
What's the Story?
Gradual exposure to abuse-related material helps children to become more comfortable thinking about and discussing their own abuse experiences. "What's the Story?" is an introductory activity to abuse processing in which children actively contribute and are able to relate to similar experiences of others. This activity has been played in individual and group therapy using fictional stories of abuse scenarios. There are two versions of this game. One version is for younger children (i.e., 5-7 year olds), in which key details are left out in the form of blanks . . . The second version is for older children (i.e., 8-10 year olds), who are told that they are going to work together with the clinicians and caregivers (conjoint therapy) to create a story about a child who has experienced abuse.
Read about Game-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and this and other strategies to use when dealing with child sexual abuse. Click here.
States have a variety of requirements for the school attendance age of their students. Most states have laws regarding the minimum and maximum ages to which education must be offered free of charge. "Free education" refers to the ages in which a person must be admitted to a public school by law without charge. "Compulsory education" refers to the age range where students are required to be in school. While some states have either not set a maximum age limit to which free education must be provided or have left that determination up to the local education agency, all states (including Washington, D.C.) have implemented laws setting minimum age limits and compulsory attendance ages. Learn about your state and others in this 50 State Analysis.
After years of school, you've finally graduated with your master's degree in social work. You are relieved, ecstatic, and...petrified! You are plagued by the thought that you didn't learn enough and that you really don't know what you're doing! You might have "New Social Worker Anxiety Syndrome" . . . The good news is that some of this anxiety is going to help you be a better clinician. The bad news is that too much anxiety can interfere with providing effective clinical services. The purpose of this article is to identify and address situations that clinical MSW students anticipate causing anxiety. Our hope is that by addressing these concerns, we can reduce unnecessary anxiety, so that new social workers can focus more of their energy on their clients. Read more. |
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Leadership News
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Become an Exceptional Leader
The old-fashioned view of leadership is that leaders are marked out for leadership from early on in their lives; and that if you are not a born leader, there's little you can do to become one. That's not the way we see it now. The modern view is that through patience, persistence and hard work, you can be a truly effective leader, just as long as you make the effort needed. The 30+ articles in this section help you develop your leadership skills, so that you can become an exceptional leader. Explore the articles. Leadership By the New Generation Picture this scenario: the leader of your long-established team has retired, and his replacement is a young manager straight out of business school. She's anxious to get going in the organization - with fresh ideas and fresh enthusiasm - and you hope that she'll bring some new life and energy into the company. As the weeks go by, however, you begin to see growing discomfort and conflict between the older staff and this new team member. Your older colleagues think "the new kid" is overconfident, pushy, and too anxious to leave right at 5:00 p.m. The newcomer finds it hard to get support from her older colleagues. She's concerned that they can't (or won't) multitask, they're less confident with technology, and they're unwilling to share their hard-earned knowledge. As a result, cooperation is suffering. How can you bridge this generation gap? And why is this important? Learn more.
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Research Highlights
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The Efficacy of Motivational Interviewing: A Meta-Analysis of Controlled Clinical Trials
[While not about MI in schools, this article has implications for use by school social workers.] A meta-analysis was conducted on controlled clinical trials investigating adaptations of motivational interviewing (AMIs), a promising approach to treating problem behaviors. AMIs were equivalent to other active treatments and yielded moderate effects (from .25 to .57) compared with no treatment and/or placebo for problems involving alcohol, drugs, and diet and exercise. Results did not support the efficacy of AMIs for smoking or HIV-risk behaviors. AMIs showed clinical impact, with 51% improvement rates, a 56% reduction in client drinking, and moderate effect sizes on social impact measures (d 0.47). Potential moderators (comparative dose, AMI format, and problem area) were identified using both homogeneity analyses and exploratory multiple regression. Results are compared with other review results and suggestions for future research are offered. Read more.
A Study of Childhood Anxiety Disorders and Their Impact on the Development of Anxiety Disorders in Adulthood
This study examines childhood anxiety disorders as well as their impact on the development of anxiety disorders in adulthood. It also compares the effectiveness of different treatment methods and examines common risk factors, such as family history or genetic influence. This study measures the impact on school performance, social relationships, and other components of daily functioning. Literature suggests that anxiety disorders are characterized by excessive anxiety, fear, worry, avoidance, and compulsive rituals. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) provides mental health professionals with key symptoms or observable behaviors for the diagnosis of an anxiety disorder. Qualitative methods are used in this study to determine if a relationship exists between childhood anxiety disorders and anxiety disorders in adolescence and adulthood and to assess which treatment methods seemed effective for most people. Full study here.
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In the News
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Valuing Physics Over PE: A Novel Teacher Pay Scale in CO
A wealthy school district in Colorado is launching a radical experiment that sets a different pay scale for each category of educator, ensuring that even the best third-grade teacher would never earn as much as a veteran high-school math teacher.
The new system, which takes effect next month for all 3,300 educators in suburban Douglas County, Colorado, has sparked fury and resentment among some teachers and some parents. But it has also drawn interest from superintendents around the nation. . .
The district's chief human relations officer, Brian Cesare, said he asked school administrators, "Which jobs keep you up at night because they are so difficult to fill?" Using the answers as a gauge of supply and demand, he divided teaching jobs into five salary bands. Read full article.
School Social Worker, Administration, Staff Change School Around
Rochelle McCormick is in front of the classroom everyday--and she isn't a teacher! Ms. McCormick is a school social worker at Devonshire Elementary School in Charlotte, NC. Students at the school are mostly Black and Hispanic. They come from low-income families and often troubled communities. Ms. McCormick helps the families and teaches the kids to be socially smart so they can put more energy on being book smart. Administrators and Ms. McCormick have initiated new strategies. The school has gone from 40% to 93% of the students performing at grade level. Attendance is up to 90% daily. and behavior has dramatically improved. Watch brief video.
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Survey Completion Request
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ACSSW is collaborating with GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) and other prominent national education organizations on a research study of school social workers, counselors, and psychologists, and their roles in creating safe and affirming learning environments for our nation's youth. Your participation in this survey can provide us with the tools to advocate for safer schools, strengthen school-based health and mental health services, and raise awareness to the important role that social workers play in students' healthy development.
If you are currently employed as a school social worker working with middle and/or high school students, please share your perspectives and experiences with us. You work with students each day who may benefit from the results of this survey! While this is a very busy time of year for school social workers, please carve out a few minutes to help us gather this important information. Survey participation is completely voluntary, and should only take about 20 minutes of your time. Be assured that your participation is confidential. Access survey and scroll to bottom of page to begin.
Smith College Study on SSW Practice
Sarah Wettenstein, a student at Smith College School for Social Work in Northampton, MA, is conducting a research study about how school social workers practice and the different types of interventions they use. In particular, she is interested in looking at the barriers to participation in different kinds of school social work practice.
This is yet another opportunity to inform the school social work and related educational communities about the profession! It costs nothing but your time--which often is in short supply. But original research about what we do and how we do it is so very important. Please assist in this research by learning about the project or, for more information, email Sarah or call 860-604-1204.
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Webinars
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ArchivedCreating Trauma Sensitive Schools
In collaboration with the IDEA Partnership, the Quality and Evidence Base Practice (QEBP) Practice Group hosted a webinar on Wednesday April 17, 2013 titled "Creating Trauma Sensitive Schools" that featured two presentations. The first presentation featured Nic Dibble from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction who shared how Wisconsin is building on existing mental health initiatives to use a Response to Intervention (RtI) framework to help schools support students affected by trauma. Mr. Dibble shared resources including Wisconsin's toolkit for schools, links to publications and websites that describe how schools can become more trauma-informed, and specific strategies schools can adopt to be more trauma-sensitive. The second presentation featured Erin Butts from the University of Montana Institute for Educational Research and Service who discussed secondary traumatic stress (STS), burnout, and self-care. She identified STS signs and symptoms, discussed their significance, and provided recommendations for self-care. Her presentation included an interactive exercise that can be used during stressful situations. The webinar recording as well as the PowerPoint. Please note that the webinar recording started a few minutes late so the introduction and first few slides were not audio recorded. The PowerPoint slides include the entire presentation. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Comprehensive School Mental Health: A Partnership Among Families, Schools, and Communities(A PDF) In a webinar sponsored by the Maryland Coalition of Families for Children's Mental Health (MCF), CSMH Co-Directors Nancy Lever, Ph.D and Sharon Hoover Stephan, Ph.D. hosted a webinar titled Comprehensive School Mental Health: A partnership among families, schools, and communities on March 11, 2013. Since 1995, the National Center for School Mental Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine has been working to promote successful policies and programs to advance school mental health in the United States. The recent school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut has heightened the nation's awareness of the vulnerability of our children and communities to violent actions. However, it is important that we not respond by merely addressing security in schools. Rather, we must attend to comprehensive school mental health - promoting students' social-emotional learning, mental health and positive school climate; early screening and identification of youth mental health concerns; and effective school-based prevention and intervention. In this webinar, presenters discussed what comprehensive school mental health is and the role of families and schools in their partnership to address children's mental health. PDF here.
Free Podcast
Memories and experiences from childhood can have good and bad long-term effects on a person's physical and emotional well-being. A recent CDC study in five states found that more than half of respondents reported some type of adverse childhood experience that continues to affect them today. In this podcast, Dr. Valerie Edwards discusses the lingering effects of adverse childhood experiences. Access here.
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SSW Jobs
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New this week: Burlington, NC Pocatello, ID Waterford, MI - 7 positions Continued this week: Atlanta, GA Benson, VT Cumberland, RI Danbury, CTDes Plaines, IL Elmhurst, IL Fayetteville, NC Florissant, MO Greensboro, NC Henrico, VA Joliet, IL Little Canada, MN Milwaukee, WI North Berwick, MEOakland, CA Pflugerville, TX - PT Pflugerville, TX - bilingual Plainfield, CT
Sun, AZ Topeka, KS Connecticut (various locations)
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ACSSW Activities
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ACSSW's present activities include:
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- developing a national school social work role framework paper;
- establishing a National Center for School Social Work Practice, Leadership and Research, a long-term goal,
- designing professional development opportunities that address current issues and real job challenges. Watch for details to come.
- staying on top of national educational reforms and trends.
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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