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School Social Work NOW!
Supporting Innovative Practice,
Effective Leadership, and Applied Research
Vol 7, Issue 3
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BACK TO SCHOOL MEMBERSHIP SALE!
Save big now!! |
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ACSSW is heading to New Orleans!! Watch this spot for information about our next school social work event. You know you want to be there - January 30th through February 1st.
October is National Bullying Prevention Month. Show your support by doing one or more of the following:
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Students' behavior is a form of communication and when it's negative it almost always stems from an underlying cause. There are many reasons kids might be acting out, which makes it difficult for a teacher in a crowded classroom to figure out the root cause. But even if there was time and space to do so, most teachers receive very little training in behavior during their credentialing programs. On average, teacher training programs mandate zero to one classes on behavior and zero to one courses on mental health. Teacher training programs mostly assume that kids in public schools will be "typical," but that assumption can handicap teachers when they get into real classrooms.
A National Institute of Health study found that 25.1 percent of kids 13-18 in the US have been diagnosed with anxiety disorders. No one knows how many more haven't been diagnosed. Get the tips.
School staff today are under enormous pressure to show progress for every student every year. Yet they are in a bind. One disruptive child can effectively derail an entire lesson. Surveys show that coping with disruptive students is teachers' number one problem.
Our experience working in schools has taught us that to be effective and help each student reach his or her potential, teachers need a new approach to clearly understand what drives student behavior. Teachers also need a variety of strategies that allow them to intervene effectively before the behavior is entrenched.
Understanding the following critical concepts helps teachers choose how to intervene better with students' problematic behavior. Learn more.
...[T]he report Present, Engaged and Accounted For, ...documents that missing nearly a month or more of school during kindergarten is associated with lower academic achievement in first grade. The impact was most profound for children in poverty, for whom poor kindergarten attendance predicted low fifth-grade performance...
What many educators might not realize, however, is that thousands of our youngest students are at risk because they are chronically absent, missing 10 percent or more of school over the course of an academic year. Nationwide, nearly one out of 10 kindergartners and first graders is chronically absent. Access article.
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ACSSW welcomes these new and renewing members!
David C, Caswell, ME Diana F, Elmhurst, NY Tina H, Mullica Hills, NJ Sarah K, Milwaukee, WI Erika L, Milwaukee, WI Susan L, Milwaukee, WI Jamie S, Philadelphia, PA Christine T, Winchester, VA Kathy W, Covington, WA Nancy R, Milwaukee, WI Faith W, Shawano, WI Lori R, Batavia, IL
Thank you all for supporting your profession!
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Student and learning support staff (including those now designated in ESSA as specialized instructional support personnel) continue to be marginalized as ESSA guidance and plans are formulated. The latest indication of the problem is seen in the U.S. Department of Education's non-regulatory guidance for Title II, Part A released on September 27.
Title II focuses on Preparing, Training, and Recruiting High-quality Teachers, Principals, or Other School Leaders. A "Fact Sheet" from the Education Department states that it "Encourages Support for Educators and Teaching Profession." Then it states that "The guidance encourages states and districts to prepare, train, and recruit high-quality teachers and principals to increase student academic achievement.
Only teachers and principals? What happened to the other school leaders? And where are the advocates for ensuring that the term other school leaders embraces leadership for student and learning supports? Read full paper.
It's time for the leaders of the social-emotional learning (SEL) and character education fields to jump in the sandbox together and create a set of common guidelines for implementation in schools. This is a variation of the "Manhattan Project" called for years ago by Tim Shriver, a founder of CASEL.
He believed at that time that such a project would involve creating a common curriculum for all to share. Similar concerns about the proliferation of approaches, often competing, were articulated last month at the Character Education Partnership's annual Forum in Washington, D. C. We are currently overwhelmed by a torrent of babble that is leading to schools filled with too many programs lacking coordination, connection, and continuity. More.
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The Wisconsin School Social Work Survey was developed to identify 1) what areas of responsibility Wisconsin school social workers are involved in (e.g., special education, school attendance, mental health, homelessness), and 2) what professional strategies and programs they are using to address these areas of responsibility (e.g., consultation, advocacy, home visits, counseling).
There are 39 areas of responsibility and 43 professional strategies and programs on the 2013 survey. Respondents were asked to estimate the amount of time they spent on each item using the following scale:
1. High - indicating involvement at least a few times weekly
2. Medium - indicating involvement at least once weekly
3. Low - indicating involvement at least once monthly
4. Infrequent - indicating involvement less than monthly
5. Not at all
By using this scale (as opposed to some other method, such as asking respondents to estimate the amount of time they spend on each item), respondents are able to complete the survey in minimal time, while still allowing them to differentiate the time devoted to these different issues and services. Time necessary to complete the survey is a critical variable in the response rate. Full analysis.
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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.
ACSSW-20 (20% discount!!)
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| Professional Development Opportunities |
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"We are asking students to change a belief system without changing the situation around them."
The first time I heard a preschooler explaining a classmate's disruptive behavior, I was surprised at how adult her 4-year-old voice sounded.
Her classmate "doesn't know how to sit still and listen," she said to me, while I sat at the snack table with them. He couldn't learn because he couldn't follow directions, she explained, as if she had recently completed a behavioral assessment on him. Months before either of these children would start kindergarten, they had formed judgments about who was smart and capable of learning and who was not. They had absorbed ideas on why some students wrote their names neatly, and others broke crayons.
This precocious little girl talked about her classmate matter-of-factly and without any malice in a classroom where the teachers were well trained and supportive of a diverse student body that was racially and economically mixed.
What the little girl didn't know about her classmate was that his family life was chaotic, without consistent routines or caregivers. He had suffered some traumas at home, which showed in his behavior at school. Continue.
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School Social Work Positions
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Continued. . .
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Dir of School Social Work
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Strategies To Build Protective Factors for Muslim Youth
October 13, 2016, 2 to 3:30 p.m. ET
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention will present "Strategies for Educators, Counselors, and Community Members To Build Protective Factors for American Muslim Youth." This webinar will focus on strategies to help participants create protective factors and prosocial opportunities for Muslim youth. Presenters will discuss adolescent development, positive youth development, and how to create safe and accepting academic and community environments for Muslim youth. Presenters will discuss adolescent development, positive youth development, and how to create safe and accepting academic and community environments for Muslim youth. The training will also address methods for strengthening protective factors on the individual, peer, and community levels for Muslim youth. Learn more and register.
Introducing a Powerful Strategy for Strengthening School-Family Partnerships
Thursday, October 13, 2016, 3:00 p.m. EDT
The Right Question School-Family Partnership Strategy is an evidence-based approach that strengthens parents' capacity to ask better questions, participate more effectively in decisions, and partner more productively with schools.
Parents who can confidently ask better questions and participate in decisions affecting their children's education begin to play three roles that allow them to partner more constructively with educators: They support their children's education, monitor their progress, and advocate for them when necessary. 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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4rd Quarter Deadline: December 31, 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 fourth quarter cycle ends December 31st. Grants are up to $500. Recipients will be notified by February 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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