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School Social Work NOW!
Supporting Innovative Practice,
Effective Leadership, and Applied Research
Vol 5, Issue 18
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Member Request: Dressing Professionally
ACSSW has had a request from a member wondering if anyone has seen or knows of literature that speaks to professionalism, ie, dressing, writing, etc. in order to be taken seriously by others with whom one works. In particular, field instructors working in schools are seeking this information. If you know of an article or two that addresses this issue, please send the article or link to me. We want to assist field instructors in their task of "shaping" students into successful professionals!
Free Guide for Working with Military Connected Students
Please take note of the offer, below, of a free book that could assist in helping students from military families. This guide is an excellent resource and a pertinent reminder that there are such students in classrooms across the country, kids who may be struggling in silence or wondering if they will see their parent or loved one return. The book has both policy and practice implications that would strengthen services to these students as well as, potentially, the general student population.
Free Online Book from UCLA
January 2015
"Despite the common sense reality that school improvement policy and practice must move forward in transforming student and learning supports, it has taken some time for major efforts to emerge. In the meantime, external and internal barriers to learning and teaching have continued to pose some of the most pervasive and entrenched challenges to educators across the country, particularly in chronically low performing schools. Failure to directly address these barriers ensures that (a) too many children and youth will continue to struggle in school, and (b) teachers will continue to divert precious instructional time to dealing with behavior and other problems that can interfere with classroom engagement for all students. Transforming student and learning supports is key to school improvement.
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Human Trafficking in America's Schools
Human trafficking is modern slavery. It involves exploiting a person through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of forced labor, commercial sex, or both. Victims of human trafficking include men, women, boys, girls, and transgender individuals lured by the promise of a better life in the United States and adults and children who were born and raised in the United States. . .
Few crimes are more abhorrent than child trafficking, and few crimes are more challenging for communities to recognize and address. For many people, the reality of trafficking in their community is difficult to comprehend, let alone confront. For educators and school personnel, the reality of these crimes and the severity of their impact are cause for a call to action. Learn more. At website, click on links to subtopics in guide.
Countering the Over-pathologizing of Students Feelings & Behavior: A Growing Concern Related to MH in Schools
Reasonable concern for the well-being of children and adolescents and the need to address barriers to learning and teaching has led schools to deploy resources to deal with a variety of health and psychosocial matters (e.g., bullying, depression, suicide, ADHD, LD, obesity, etc.). Over time, agenda priorities shift, and resources are redeployed. Some of the activity is helpful; some is not; some has unintended negative consequences.
Among the many issues raised by all this, there is growing concern about how often the ways in which students respond to and cope with the demands of growing up are labeled as pathological and sensationalized. The problem is compounded by the tendency to generalize from extreme and rare incidents. While one school shooting is too many, fortunately few students will ever act out in this way. More here.
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We all need friends at work. Looking for advice on a project? Want to celebrate a major client win or milestone? Need to vent about how demanding, controlling, unreasonable, ignorant, awful, and stupid the boss is? That's what friends are for.
And there are proven benefits to such relationships. Research from Gallup has shown that people who have best friends at work are more engaged, and that their organizations show higher profitability and customer loyalty than those in which close friendships between colleagues are less common. Psychologist Abraham Maslow argued 60 years ago that a sense of belonging is one of the most basic human needs, right after food, water and safety. I think it's safe to say that we need friends in our professional lives just as much as we do in our personal ones.
But if you've recently been promoted into your first managerial role, you understand that having close friends at work can also be complicated. Before, you and your friends complained about the boss behind his or her back. Now, you're the boss. . . Complete article.
Transformative Leadership for Social-Emotional Learning
Accomplishing the kinds of changes needed to integrate SEL into secondary schools requires transformative leadership: leadership that is willing to realign structures and relationships to achieve genuine and sustainable change. Although there are more elements of transformational leadership than we can elaborate here, we can describe some key aspects derived from education research and stories of successes (Bencivenga & Elias, 2003; Devaney et al., 2006; Elias & Arnold, 2006; Elias, Arnold, & Hussey, 2003).
Many transformations can be identified as important, but the three that we deem to be essential are leading with vision and courage, beginning and integrating efforts schoolwide, and implementing with integrity. Full article.
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Data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09), a nationally representative, longitudinal study of more than 23,000 ninth-graders in 2009, were used for this report. HSLS:09 surveyed students, their parents, math and science teachers, school administrators, and school counselors. The study included information about students who were enrolled in school in the fall term of 2009 as ninth-graders and who were not enrolled in school and had not earned a regular high school diploma or alternative credential such as a GED in spring 2012, when they should have been 11th-graders. These students are referred to as "dropouts" in this report. Access here. |
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Recommended Read for March
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recommended by reader Kelly Ohme, Waukesha, WI
The Compassion Fatigue Workbook
By Francoise Mathieu
Google Books: The Compassion Fatigue Workbook is a lifeline for any helping professional facing the physical and emotional exhaustion that can shadow work in the helping professions. Since 2001 the activities in this Workbook have helped thousands of helpers in the fields of healthcare, community mental health, correctional services, education, and the military. In addition to a comprehensive description of compassion fatigue and vicarious traumatization, The Compassion Fatigue Workbook leads the reader through experiential activities designed to target specific areas in their personal and professional lives. It provides concrete strategies to help the reader develop a personalized plan for identifying and transforming compassion fatigue and vicarious traumatization.
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ACSSW is very pleased to offer an opportunity for any school social worker 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). 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. Or to register call 781-239-0071 or email SOS Registration and mention that you'd like to register.
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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School Social Work Positions
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Continued - listed by state abbreviation
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Bethel, AK
Tucson, AZ
Denver, CO
Connecticut (various)
Chicago, IL
Lisle, IL
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Palatine, IL '15-'16
Schaumburg, IL
Waukegan, IL
Evansville, IN
McPherson, KS '15-'16
Boston, MA '15-'16
Southfield, MI
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Kansas City, MO
New York, NY
Utica, NY
Columbus, OH
Milwaukee, WI
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School to Prison Pipeline: Is Kindergarten Too Young to Suspend?
. . . one mother told 11Alive's Rebecca Lindstrom that her son was kicked out for failing to sit still. In an open records request we found kindergarten students in Fulton County suspended for boisterous activity or horseplay.
"We are treating children like they're little adults. They're not," said Marlyn Tillman, a parent with Gwinnett SToPP, a group aimed at stopping what they see as needless suspensions . . . According to the Department of education, 14,292 students in public PreK through third grade were sent home for at least one day last year. The main reasons were student incivility, disorderly conduct, battery and fighting. Learn more. Technology as a Social Lifeline for Kids with Aspberger's
Technology is often maligned for having a negative influence on young people, particularly on their ability to develop healthy social relations and a sense of identity. But technology can also be a force for good.
For some people, such as those on the higher-functioning end of the autism spectrum, technology can be a vehicle for personal and social growth. Many young people with autism spectrum disorder (ADS) are drawn to computers. That's not surprising given technology's potential for exploring the deep, intense interests that many ASD kids have.
What is surprising, though, is how little we know about the ways in which ASD kids use technology to navigate the pitfalls of a world that, more often than not, doesn't understand them. Read more.
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FREE Webinar on Trauma Informed Care: Trauma Systems Therapy (TST)
Friday, March 6, 2 p.m. EST
The webinar will focus on collaborative approaches, techniques and practices from a multi-disciplinary trauma treatment model called Trauma Systems Therapy (TST), which has been implemented nationally in a variety of child serving settings, including schools, child welfare services, outpatient clinics and residential programs. Whether engaging clients or provider partners, TST stresses that building an effective and meaningful working alliance is based on developing a shared lens and language to understand problems and solutions while simultaneously addressing the priority goals and challenges of the individuals and organizations affiliated with the child's team. Participants will learn how the TST model fosters collaboration and change, hear stories that illustrate successful TST implementation in programs offered in Boston and other places across the country, and review the potential impact on professionals and organizations that work closely with traumatized children and families in school-based, child welfare and other settings. More info and to register.
A State of Engagement: How Policymakers Can Get More Students Invested in Learning Thursday, March 12, 12:30-1:30 EST
Join NASBE on March 12, 2015, from 12:30-1:30 p.m. (EST) as NASBE Student Engagement Study Group and Connecticut State Board of Education Chairman Allan Taylor presents findings from the forthcoming NASBE report "A State of Engagement." An educational system that more meaningfully engages students, the report finds, requires states to consider a suite of policies that foster systemic change. State policymakers-and state board of education members in particular-are in a unique position to lead this effort. Pre-registration required.
Archived by SAMHSA & KSOC-TV Various Archived Webinars from the Center for School Mental Health, University of Maryland
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Elaine Chapin Fund Accepting Applications for 2015 Scholarship Program (for students affected by MS)
Deadline: April 30, 2015
1st Quarter Deadline: March 31, 2015
Grants of up to $500 are available for "innovative programs, events, or projects" from the Meemic Foundation. Apply online using their easy application that takes less than 30 minutes to complete. These grants are open to any employee of a K-12 public or private school. Universities and colleges may also apply. Fill-in-the-blank application.
Grants are accepted year round, but the first quarter cycle ends March 31st. Grants are up to $1000. Recipients will be notified by May 15th.
The foundation says it supports "basically anything that supports teachers and enhances the student's educational experience" - from field trips to books to behavior modification programs; science, music, or art equipment to professional development.
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