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School Social Work NOW!
Supporting Innovative Practice,
Effective Leadership, and Applied Research
Vol 7, Issue 1
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BACK TO SCHOOL MEMBERSHIP SALE!
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September is Attendance Awareness Month. Do you know the difference between chronic absence and truancy? Read this week's practice article to find out more about this critical issue.
September is also National Suicide Prevention Month. Feeling blue? Depressed? Take a free screening. Your responses are confidential and not tracked or shared with ACSSW.
October is National Bullying Prevention Month. Show your support by doing one or more of the following:
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As the concept of chronic absenteeism gains traction across the country, some people are under the mistaken impression that it's just a politically correct way of saying truancy. Educators, policymakers and journalists often use the words interchangeably, describing the same, old problem with the same, old solution.
In fact, the two terms describe different aspects of our absenteeism problem and require different approaches to bringing students back to school every day.
First, let's take truancy, a term that generally refers to unexcused absences. In the past, federal law required states to track truancy but left it to states to come up with the definition. California schools have tracked the number of students who are truant which is defined as missing three days without a valid excuse or are late three times to class by 30 minutes. In contrast, in Maryland, schools have monitored habitual truancy, defined as missing 20% of the school year (which is 38 days in a 180 day school year). Learn more.
The [WI} Department of Public Instruction Trauma-Sensitive Schools (TSS) initiative is modeled after the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) school improvement process, focusing first on universal practices (Tier 1), followed by strategies for students who need additional support (Tier 2), and intensive interventions for students who require ongoing support (Tier 3). The change effort within each school is best facilitated by a school-based team with an internal TSS coach who commits to additional professional development provided through these modules. Implementation is enhanced when internal TSS coaches have access to technical assistance and on-going, problem-solving meetings facilitated by trained external TSS coaches. Check out the Tier I modules.
Emotional incest, also known as covert incest, is a dynamic that occurs in parenting where the parent seeks emotional support through their child that should be sought through an adult relationship. Although the effects of emotional incest can be similar to those resulting from physical incest, the term does not encompass sexual abuse...
It is important to note that, in most cases, parents who foster a dynamic of emotional incest do not realize the impact of their behavior and do not intend to hurt their children. But the impact and the hurt are there all the same. Click here to continue.
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Today's organizational and societal challenges are too big to be addressed by heroic leaders alone. A more contemporary understanding of leadership as a shared process is needed.
Collective leadership occurs when mobilized masses achieve exponential results through their connections. If leaders, organizations, partnerships, cross-sector alliances, NGOs, community based organizations, and grassroots movements are going to leverage the potential they have for impact, then they must understand the power of informal networks. Networks are the fundamental way in which we can see and measure how collectives are engaging in leadership. Download white paper.
...There's a subtle relationship between pressure and performance. When your people experience the right amount of pressure, they do their best work. However, if there's too much or too little pressure, then performance can suffer.
This relationship is explained by the Inverted-U Model, which we'll look at in this article. This helps you get the best from your people, at the same time that you keep them happy and engaged. Continue.
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 Immigration has been part of the American story from our beginnings as a nation. Many of our immigrants--refugees as well as other international migrants--are children, but their circumstances are often overlooked in the broader political debates. Emerging science concerning trauma and early brain development provides a new lens through which to view the risks, as well as the opportunities, these children face as they attempt to establish new lives in this country. In this report, we bring together demographic data and other research findings on what are often considered distinct groups of immigrant children, in order to focus on their common challenges. Full paper here. |
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Recommended Read for September-October
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Handbook of Evidence-Based Interventions for Children and Adolescents
Lea A. Theodore, ed.
Springer: Unlike other volumes that ignore or merely reference the evidence base of various interventions, this book focuses on providing immediate, empirically supported guidance for putting these strategies into direct practice. Issues covered include crisis interventions and response, social and emotional issues, academic/learning issues, psychopathological disorders, neuropsychological disorders, and the behavioral management of childhood health issues. Each chapter follows a consistent format including a brief description of the problem and associated characteristics, etiology and contributing factors, and three evidence-based, step-by-step sets of instructions for implementation. Additionally, each chapter provides several websites offering further information about the topic. Featuring contributions from leading scholars and practitioners on each issue covered, this book will be a valuable resource for school and child clinical psychologists, counselors, social workers, and therapists as well as other health and mental health professionals whose primary practice is with children and adolescents.
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| Professional Development Opportunities |
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...Robert W. Coleman Elementary School has been doing something different when students act out: offering meditation.
Instead of punishing disruptive kids or sending them to the principal's office, the Baltimore school has something called the Mindful Moment Room instead.
The room looks nothing like your standard windowless detention room. Instead, it's filled with lamps, decorations, and plush purple pillows. Misbehaving kids are encouraged to sit in the room and go through practices like breathing or meditation, helping them calm down and re-center. They are also asked to talk through what happened. More....Over a decade ago, the officials arbitrarily decided what percentage of students should get special education services - 8.5 percent - and since then they have forced school districts to comply by strictly auditing those serving too many kids. Their efforts, which started in 2004 but have never been publicly announced or explained, have saved the Texas Education Agency billions of dollars but denied vital supports to children with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, epilepsy, mental illnesses, speech impediments, traumatic brain injuries, even blindness and deafness, a Houston Chronicle investigation has found. Full article.
The Fargo School District will devote six social workers to helping students get the care they need for mental health, issues and drug and alcohol issues, and with other problems that could prevent them from graduating from high school.
Is having a team of social workers in the schools a good idea?
The initiative, which starts this year, is written into the district's strategic plan. It will station two social workers in the secondary schools for each of the north, central and south areas of the district. They will also serve students in the elementary schools, Superintendent Jeff Schatz said.
The initiative won't involve new spending, but will instead realign current spending and resources. That includes folding two student wellness facilitators, whose salaries are paid by Imagine Thriving (a Goetz Mental Wellness Initiative), into the program, Schatz said. "The game plan is to keep kids in school, so that those kids can be successful," he said. Read more.
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School Social Work Positions
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The Intersectionality of Race and Class in Identity-Based Bullying
October 6, 2016 - 2 - 3 pm ET
This session will focus on creating greater awareness of the intersectionality of race and class in bullying incidents and the role of the educator in understanding the subtle and more nuanced differences from traditional bullying . Drawing on recent examples, as well as participant experiences, this interactive workshop will explore the relationship between bullying, stereotypes, race, class and school climate. We will discuss strategies for responding to bias-motivated bullying ,help students better understand the specific role of being an ally and to develop the motivation to create inclusive school environments for all students. Learn more and register.
The Impact of Terrorism on Children: What Harms, What Helps
The University-Based Child and Family Policy Consortium, in collaboration with the Society for Research in Child Development, hosted "The Impact of Terrorism on Children: What Harms, What Helps" webinar on February 16, 2016. Based on an SRCD Social Policy Report written by James Garbarino and colleagues, and the Social Policy Report Commentary by Ann Masten, this webinar will discuss the research on the effects of children's exposure to terrorism. Access webinar. Approx. 1 hr.
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3rd Quarter Deadline: September 30, 2016
Grants of up to $500 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 third quarter cycle ends September 30th. Grants are up to $500. Recipients will be notified by November 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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