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School Social Work NOW!
Supporting Innovative Practice,
Effective Leadership, and Applied Research
Vol 4, Issue 18
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Our third national conference is now history and ACSSW is grateful to all who took the time to participate in this event. We had terrific attendees and wonderful presenters. Keynote, Dr. JoAnne Malloy, and luncheon speaker, Dr.Joanne Cashman, brought strong messages for school social workers. Dr. Doug Walker and Dr. Melissa Brymer offered a full day training on Psychological First Aid in Schools. Special kudos to presenters who filled in at the last minute: Dr. Julie Larrieu and Dr. Jane Parker from Tulane University and Dr. Stephen Phillippi from Louisiana State. Marvelous workshops! And our exhibitors were great as well. Thank you to all and to Sally Carlson, Conference Chair, for another very successful conference!
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ACSSW is very pleased to announce an opportunity for school social workers to earn 1.5 FREE CEUs due to ACSSW's sponsorship of an excellent program:
Plan, Prepare, Prevent: The SOS Online
Gatekeeper Training Module
The SOS Signs of Suicide® Prevention Program is an award winning, nationally recognized program designed for middle and high school-age students. The program teaches students how to identify the symptoms of depression and suicidality in themselves or their friends, and encourages help-seeking through the use of the ACT® technique (Acknowledge, Care, Tell).
The Middle and High School SOS Programs also include gatekeeper training tools. Plan, Prepare, Prevent: The SOS Online Gatekeeper Training Module is a 90-minute interactive course providing in-depth suicide prevention education and guidance on implementation of the SOS Program. This course is available free to school social workers. With sponsorship from ACSSW, all learners will receive 1.5 contact hours upon completion.
Click to Learn More. To register contact: SOS Registration.
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Last week I wrote a bit about professional associations and wondered why people don't join. So far, we've received some good comments and are still interested. Please take a few minutes to write to me with your thoughts: why do you join or not join? Send responses to: Here's an Answer. All responses are welcome.
Judith Kullas Shine
President
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Recommended Read for February
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Twelve Years A Slave
by Solomon Northup, Ira Berlin (introduction), &
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (editor)
Perhaps the best written of all the slave narratives, Twelve Years a Slave is a harrowing memoir about one of the darkest periods in American history. It recounts how Solomon Northup, born a free man in New York, was lured to Washington, D.C., in 1841 with the promise of fast money, then drugged and beaten and sold into slavery. He spent the next twelve years of his life
 in captivity on a Louisiana cotton plantation. After his rescue, Northup published this exceptionally vivid and detailed account of slave life. It became an immediate bestseller and today is recognized for its unusual insight and eloquence as one of the very few portraits of American slavery produced by someone as educated as Solomon Northup, or by someone with the dual perspective of having been both a free man and a slave.
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2nd National School Social Work Survey
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School social workers don't often have the opportunity to have their voice heard at the national level. This is your chance!
This important survey has two broad aims: (1) to capture data from the largest number of practicing SSWs in order to enrich the understanding of the daily practices, skills, competencies, and barriers; and (2) to inform state association and university efforts to enhance our professional development and training.
Your input is essential. If you can't complete the survey in one sitting, you can return to it. Please participate. Click:
National SSW Survey
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The limited participation of school social workers in leadership and policy-making activities in school-level systemic work has been well documented. This conceptual article explores the opportunities for school social workers' increased involvement in leadership and policy making in their schools resulting from comprehensive school reform legislation, specifically through three key teams that have evolved from this legislation: site-based decision-making teams, child study teams, and parent-teacher teams. Barriers to school social workers' systemic work are addressed, and recommendations are made for overcoming these barriers. Connections are made between school-level systemic work and the original mission and orientation of the profession. Complete Article.
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Special Practice or Interstitial Practice? A Reconsideration of School Social Work's Past and Present
This article analyzes school social work's history to provide perspective on current dilemmas in social work practice and research. The authors use interstitial emergence theory, which holds that practices from overlapping fields (like social work and K-12 education) can develop into new fields, as an analytic framework. This perspective extends Harriet Bardett's earlier analysis of social work practice in different fields. Through a documentary analysis of school social work's history and a content analysis of school social work journal articles from 1959 to 2009, the article illustrates school social work's status as both a specialty of social work and an area of interstitial practice. These findings inform a discussion of implications for school social work's future direction. Read more.
Free Guides for School Social Workers
Columbia University Teachers College Press published 4 guides geared to support teachers, administrators, student personnel staff, and parents. For a limited period, and as supplies last, TCP has agreed to provide FREE copies of the guides to social workers and educators working with military kids in schools including: teachers, school administrators, PPS workers, and military parents. School social workers should be aware of this wonderful, time-limited, FREE offer from TCP. Many school social workers will benefit from these guides.
The process is simple. Each individual desiring a free book would need to click on the link, select the type of book s/he desires, and fill out name, mailing address, etc. on the Qualtrix form after selecting the book desired. The book will be mailed in a few weeks.
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Social work is frequently missing when policy and practice conversations turn to juvenile justice system youths. However, school social workers are well positioned to have a vital role in the readmission and reentry process for these young people. Formerly incarcerated youths present unique challenges for themselves, their families, and communities, including the school that receives them on discharge from the justice system. This article explores the literature on juvenile justice system youths, including the scope and number of young people affected as well as the academic characteristics and issues these adolescents and their families face. The possible roles for school social workers are examined, and suggestions for further research, policy, and practice implications are discussed. More.
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Chronic insufficient sleep has become a virtual epidemic among adolescents in the United States. A host of adverse health outcomes, including drowsy driving-related crashes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic dysfunction, have been identified as potential consequences of deficient sleep in adolescents. Adolescents achieving insufficient sleep are vulnerable to impairments in mood, behavioral control, attention, memory, and executive function. Not surprisingly, sleep loss is also associated with negative impacts on academic performance, increased tardiness and absenteeism, and decreased motivation to learn. Factors contributing to chronic sleep deficits are complex and interrelated and include circadian biology and environmental influences, such as homework, jobs, extracurricular activities, and use of technology. Full study.
Abstract: This research paper explores how components of Expressed Emotion (Critical Comments, Emotional Over-involvement, Warmth) experienced in the classroom are influencing student behavior and symptoms for students with Autism. Qualitative data was collected from one school social worker. This study confirms and builds upon previous research on Critical Comments and Warmth. Critical comments, especially when delivered by a staff member poorly, increased maladaptive behavior and decreased social interaction and communication. Warmth inversely decreased maladaptive behaviors while increasing communication and social interaction. Emotional Over-involvement was dependent upon the individual student and neither confirms or rejects previous research. Each member of the classroom group impacted how these Expressed Emotion components were expressed. Staff that were well educated and/or experienced in working with students with Autism were described as displaying high levels of Warmth. Study limitations and recommendations for future research are also discussed. More.
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from PEN
The alternate diploma that many Mississippi special-education students choose if they can't meet academic requirements for a regular diploma is a roadblock to higher education and a career, write Jackie Mader and Sarah Butrymowicz in The Hechinger Report. Students in the state are much less likely to graduate with a regular diploma after classification with a disability. The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi found the majority of state special-education students receive an occupational diploma or a certificate of completion, and as a result, thousands of capable students leave high school with few career and educational options, even if wrongly placed in special education or having minor or highly specific learning disabilities. This is particularly common when students are black or Hispanic: Most states, including Mississippi, diagnose twice as many African-American students as having emotional or intellectual disabilities as white students, according to the Equity Alliance. In the 12 years since its "occupational track'' was developed, Mississippi's 15 community colleges have wavered on admitting alternate diploma graduates. Only seven accept alternate diploma students into academic programs. No universities in Mississippi accept occupational diplomas -- nor do four-year colleges. Learn more.
from Education Week
Last fall, Harvard Business School and the Boston Consulting Group surveyed the superintendents of the 10,000 largest school districts in the United States, and 1,118 superintendents responded. The researchers found that just 3 percent of school superintendents rate business leaders as "well-informed" about public education, and 14 percent of the survey respondents say corporate leaders are actually misinformed.
Superintendents are "very reasonably demanding that business leaders learn about education, respect what educators are capable of doing, be a partner, and not be imperial, if you will," Jan W. Rivkin, a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, and lead researcher on the project, said in a phone interview.
On the other side, business leaders are often frustrated, wishing for "more progress in our education system, but also kind of scared; they don't know what to do, so they give generously, but in a way that is fragmented and not necessarily sustained," he said. Read more.
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Kohl's Cares
Kohl's is seeking nominations for its Kohl's Cares Program of young people who have made a difference in their communities. Maximum award: $10,000 in scholarships. Eligibility: Students between the ages of 6 and 18 as of March 15, 2014, and not yet high school graduates; each must be nominated by someone 21 years or older. Deadline: March 15, 2014. More info here.
Children's Foundation Medical Grants for Children in Need
These grants are designed to cover financial expenses for a child's medical needs beyond a family's health benefit plan. Families can directly apply online for these grants of up to $5,000. Details.
Do Something Seed Grants
Do Something Seed Grants for youth can be used towards project ideas and programs that are just getting started, or to jump-start a program and realize ideas for the first time. These grants can also be used towards projects that are already developed and sustainable, towards the next steps of a project and organization as it looks to expand and grow impact. Maximum award: $500. Eligibility: community projects that are youth-led and driven. Deadline: rolling. Application.
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