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School Social Work NOW!
Supporting Innovative Practice,
Effective Leadership, and Applied Research
Vol 5, Issue 23
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Since April is National Autism Awareness Month, many articles and links regarding autism have come to my attention through various ways. Many are quite informative. Recently, I had the opportunity to view a truly remarkable and endearing singing performance by a 9 year old boy with autism. His ability to engage the judges and the audience is amazing. You are encouraged to take a moment to watch this young boy. I guarantee you will be touched.
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The goal of Creating and Advocating for Trauma-Sensitive Schools is to move beyond awareness of trauma's impacts on learning to help schools become trauma-sensitive learning environments that can improve educational outcomes for all students...This book offers a Guide to a process for creating trauma-sensitive schools and a policy agenda to provide the support schools need to achieve this goal...the Guide is intended to be a living document that will grow and change as more schools become trauma sensitive and add their ideas... [There is a] companion online learning community for creating and advocating for trauma-sensitive schools, called traumasensitiveschools.org. This site offers resources to support schools in the use of the Guide and an opportunity to share ideas and best practices about whole-school trauma sensitivity. Download Guide.
This guide is designed for state-, district-, or school-level practitioners who have some familiarity with early warning systems but want to learn more about their implementation. It may also help early warning system developers create systems that respond to practitioners' needs and guide district- and school-level teams in implementing early warning systems more effectively...This guide describes the core ideas, recommendations, and experiences of districts and schools implementing early warning systems and provides examples of practices in use across the country. Access Guide Here.
Trauma can result in long- and short-term problems. Research suggests that these can include physical and emotional health conditions and put those exposed to trauma at increased risk for chronic ill health and premature death. For children and youth, in addition to health problems, other consequences of trauma include difficulties with learning, ongoing behavior problems, impaired relationships and poor social and emotional competence. Children and youth exposed to trauma, especially violence, experience more learning and academic difficulties and behavioral and mood-related problems. Research also shows that the younger children are when they experience trauma, the more vulnerable they are to its effects on brain development. Continue.
Working Through Ambivalence with Adolescent Substance Abusers
...Substance abuse is a serious problem among adolescents, who face significant stressors in competition for academic and job success, a lack of support from overstressed parents and school systems, and the challenges posed by formal operational thinking and rampant social comparison (including cyberbullying). It is widely accepted that both risk taking and resistance are developmentally appropriate parts of individuation. Thus, the approach outlined here can be particularly effective in helping teens and young adults to accomplish positive change. Full article.
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Almost no one likes change, except perhaps the baby with a dirty diaper. Change is always stressful and challenging. Even good change can be difficult.
So it's no wonder that the two most common responses to change are denial and resistance. Some people pretend it doesn't exist, and some people fight it, but most people try both approaches. The trouble is-both denial and resistance are fairly useless responses. Read more. Developing Young Leaders: Great Potential, Significant Gaps For years, CCL [Center for Creative Leadership] has been hearing from our program participants about how they would love to have benefited from a leadership development experience earlier in their lives. Right now, the next generation of leaders is already in the workforce, and the challenges they will face going forward are immense. Do they have what is needed for success? Have they been able to develop the competencies organizations need? Are they getting the development experiences to prepare them to lead? Access here. |
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. Read more here. |
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Recommended Read for April
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recommended by reader Mallory Knipe, SSW, Black River Falls, WI
The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog and Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist's Notebook: What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Loss, Love, and Healing
By Bruce Perry, Maia Szalavitz
What happens when a young brain is traumatized? How does terror, abuse, or disaster affect a child's mind--and how can that mind recover? Child psychiatrist Bruce Perry has helped children faced with unimaginable horror: genocide survivors, murder witnesses, kidnapped teenagers, and victims of family violence. In The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, he tells their stories of trauma and transformation through the lens of science, revealing the brain's astonishing capacity for healing. Deftly combining unforgettable case histories with his own compassionate, insightful strategies for rehabilitation, Perry explains what exactly happens to the brain when a child is exposed to extreme stress-and reveals the unexpected measures that can be taken to ease a child's pain and help him grow into a healthy adult. Through the stories of children who recover-physically, mentally, and emotionally-from the most devastating circumstances, Perry shows how simple things like surroundings, affection, language, and touch can deeply impact the developing brain, for better or for worse. In this deeply informed and moving book, Bruce Perry dramatically demonstrates that only when we understand the science of the mind can we hope to heal the spirit of even the most wounded child.
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How Bilingualism Affects Children's Beliefs
Most young children are essentialists. They believe that human and animal characteristics are innate. That kind of reasoning can lead them to think that traits like native language and clothing preference are intrinsic rather than acquired.
But a new study from Concordia suggests that certain bilingual kids are more likely to understand that it's what one learns, rather than what one is born with, that makes up a person's psychological attributes.
The study, forthcoming in Developmental Science, suggests that bilingualism in the preschool years can alter children's beliefs about the world around them. Contrary to their unilingual peers, many kids who have been exposed to a second language after age three believe that an individual's traits arise from experience. Learn more.
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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
Los Angeles, CA
Connecticut (various)
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Barrington, IL Summer
Chicago, IL
DeSoto, KS
Topeka, KS
Wichita, KS
Boston, MA
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Ann Arundel County,MD
Clark, NJ
Utica, NY
Middletown, PA
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Suicide Prevention in Schools is Essential: Understand the Liability and Mental Health Issues
Wednesday, April 22 at 2 p.m. EDT - free
Screening for Mental Health is offering a free webinar featuring Dr. Scott Poland, a national expert on suicide prevention education in schools. The increase in youth suicide means that schools cannot ignore the issue and instead need to face it head on. However, schools have many concerns about suicide prevention education that Dr. Poland can answer, such as:
- How do we deliver the most effective suicide prevention programming while considering liability?
- What do our students and community believe about youth suicide that we need to address first?
- Unfortunately there has been a suicide in my community, now what can I do to prevent further suicides from happening?
Death and grief will affect the lives of almost all children at some point, often leading to struggles with academic performance, social relationships, and behavior. The death of a loved one is immensely challenging for anyone, but children and teens can find it particularly difficult. Scholastic.com, through the generosity of the New York Life Foundation, hosted a live, interactive webcast on the subject of Children and Grief. Using actual scenarios from children and parents, childhood grief expert, pediatrician, and author Dr. David Schonfeld, MD, and Chris Park, president of the New York Life Foundation, talked about misconceptions, and imparted valuable advice on how educators and all other caring adults can best support grieving children-whether it's right after the loss or years later. Download webcast.
Archived by SAMHSA & KSOC-TV
Various Archived Webinars from the Center for School Mental Health, University of Maryland
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SchoolGrants
SchoolGrants was created in 1999 as a way to share grant information with PK-12 educators. Grant writing can be intimidating to those who are new at it. SchoolGrants helps ease those fears by providing online tips to those who need them. Finding suitable grant opportunities requires a great deal of time and research - SchoolGrants reduces the effort by listing a variety of opportunities available to public and private nonprofit elementary and secondary schools and districts across the United States. Sample grants are available as well as the opportunity to sign up for a listserv and newsletter. More info.
(for students affected by MS)
Deadline: April 30, 2015
2nd Quarter Deadline: June 30, 2015
Grants of up to $1000 are available for "innovative programs, events, or projects" from the Meemic Foundation for Michigan, Wisconsin or Illinois. 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 second quarter cycle ends June 30th. Grants are up to $1000. Recipients will be notified by August 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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