Education Commons^™

Remediation Practices And Considerations For Virtual Counseling Programs: An Emphasis On Due Process, Elliot Isom

The Advocate

Over the past 6 years, the number of accredited Masters Counseling programs has increased from 6 to 75, a growth rate of 233%. In the new expansion of educational technology, programs have better tools to implement a range of educational experiences alongside frameworks to deliver effective counselor education. Much of the counselor-training process involves gatekeeping to enter the profession. One crucial aspect of gatekeeping is training program’s effectiveness at implementing remediation when needed. This article explores strategies and reflective case studies for remediation practices in virtual environments within a counselor education program. The article places an emphasis on applying remediation …

The Therapy Box In The Classroom: A Function-Based Multi-Component Directive Play Therapy Treatment Package Intervention, Susan E. Elswick, Melissa Hirschi, Maria Elena Delavega, Laura B. Casey

International Journal of School Social Work

The Therapy Box is a behavioral intervention being researched to determine its effectiveness as a Response to Intervention (RtI) Tier 2 and Tier 3 behavioral intervention for identified students. The Therapy Box assists students with developing self-regulatory skills and increasing their social-emotional literacy while providing a supportive, caring, and safe classroom environment. The Therapy Box is a treatment package that encompasses the theories of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), the use of functional behavior assessments, B.F. Skinner's theory of manding, Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior (DRA), and Directive Play Therapy. The hypothesis is that the student will be able to mand …

Flooding Schools: School Mental Health Providers And The Climate Crisis, Erik J. Reinbergs, Sarah Fefer

International Journal of School Social Work

This study provides an example of using a problem-solving model to explore the impact of the climate crisis on schools. Using publicly available climate change and flooding prediction data, we estimate that by 2100, assuming a “medium” climate change scenario, more than 1677 schools in the coastal United States are expected to flood every year and more than 2262 schools are expected to flood every 10 years. Within the data, “medium” is defined as warming levels that will lead to an estimated five feet of sea level rise by the year 2100. Limitations in the data suggest these numbers are …

Prioritizing School Social Workers' Roles And Responsibilities To Combat Oppression In K-12 Schools: Perspectives From Educators With Anti-Oppressive Orientations, Ashley-Marie Hanna Daftary

International Journal of School Social Work

This study used a subset of data from a larger qualitative research study that investigated anti-oppressive practices in K-12 education. Eleven educators with anti-oppressive orientations provided insight into various ways school social workers can combat oppression in K-12 schools. A flexible coding approach was used to analyze the data. Findings suggest that school social workers should consider prioritizing the following activities to combat oppression in schools: 1) Provide leadership in social justice work and anti-oppressive practice; 2) Increase visibility and integration on campus and in the classroom; and 3) Complement student interventions with psycho-education and social-emotional support for teachers. The …

The Strong Resiliency Program For Newcomer Youth: A Mixed-Methods Exploration Of Youth Experiences And Impacts, Claire V. Crooks, Nataliya Kubishyn, Maisha M. Syeda, Lynn Dare

International Journal of School Social Work

Many refugee and immigrant youth face significant adversity, pre- and post-migration, as well as during their migratory journey. Although these youth demonstrate considerable resilience, there is also an opportunity to bolster coping skills and adjustment with group-based interventions in schools. We utilized a mixed-methods approach to describe the impacts of one such program, as experienced by youth (n=19). The program is a ten-session strengths-based resilience intervention that promotes relaxation skills, healthy coping, communication, and problem-solving. There is also one individual session focused on helping each participant share their journey narrative. Youth from six intervention groups participated in this study through …

Tasks And Impact Of School Social Work In Switzerland As Perceived By Teachers, Principals And School Social Workers – A Multilevel Analysis, Werner Wicki, Roland Künzle, Marianne Mueller, Uri Ziegele, Karin Stadelmann, Kurt Gschwind

International Journal of School Social Work

To investigate whether the perceptions of school-based professionals regarding the tasks and impact of school social work (SSW) converge or diverge, this study collected survey data among 638 teachers, 41 school social workers, 62 principals, and 23 special education teachers distributed over 92 Swiss schools. After constructing several scales measuring the tasks and the impact of SSW via principal factor analyses, ANOVA’s were carried out to compare the mean perceptions of the included professionals. To prove for related perceptions between teachers and school social workers multilevel analyses were performed by including additional exploratory variables such as school context and personal …

Evaluating The Zones Of Regulation® Intervention To Improve The Self-Control Of Elementary Students, Stephanie Ochocki, Andy J. Frey, David A. Patterson, Freida Herron, Natalie Beck, David R. Dupper

International Journal of School Social Work

School social workers provide social, emotional, and behavioral interventions for elementary-age students within multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) when disruptive behavior and deficits in self-control are observed. Secondary/Tier 2 cognitive- and behaviorally-oriented interventions that target self-control have been shown to impact positive outcomes in academic, social, emotional, and behavioral realms for elementary-age students. This study sought to evaluate the Zones of Regulation® intervention for elementary-age students identified with disruptive behavior via a small randomized controlled trial (N = 63). Students were identified for disruptive behavior concerns through a universal behavior screening process and were randomly assigned to the intervention group …

School Social Work In Vietnam: Development And Capacity Building Through International Collaboration, Leticia Villarreal Sosa, Nguyen Thu Ha

International Journal of School Social Work

International collaborations and exchanges have been a part of the social work profession since its beginning. The internationalization of social work is firmly established with the presence of multiple international social work organizations. In the specialization of school social work, there are opportunities for exchange through an international school social work conference held every two to three years. It was at this conference that the authors met to initiate a collaboration in support of the development of school social work in Vietnam. This paper discusses the collaborative efforts and project funded by a Fulbright Specialist grant to support the development …

International School Social Work: Building Networks And Relationships, Leticia Villarreal Sosa

International Journal of School Social Work

This editorial discusses the importance of international collaborations in the development of school social work. As school social workers, we face common issues in the schools that can be effectively addressed by the sharing of information and resources across national borders and by supporting the development of interventions and indigenous practices that are best suited for local contexts. The SSWAA school social work practice model is reviewed and questions posed about how extending this model to address global school social work practice.

Editorial Board 2019, Leticia Villarreal Sosa

International Journal of School Social Work

Editorial Board IJSSW 2019

C4: An Interdisciplinary Approach To Improving Retention With Developmental Students, Kirk Weller, Heather Pavletic

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

In this session, we describe an interdisciplinary learning community program designed to improve retention among freshman students with three developmental placements. We will discuss how a similar program could be developed at other institutions and emphasize issues of transferability and scalability in the context of declining resources and retention.

Cultivating An Environment Inclusive Of Students With Varying Developmental, Emotional, And Learning Needs, Alisha Ortiz, Victor R. Wilburn, Julie Ray, Melissa Odegard-Koester

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

The learning needs of students today represent a unique shift in the way we think about student preparedness for the academic experience and our duty to create the optimal learning environment for them. This presentation provides different ways Department Chairs have led faculty to help students with varying needs find success in higher education.

School Social Work: Now More Than Ever, Michael S. Kelly

International Journal of School Social Work

We are excited to publish our 5th volume of the International Journal of School Social Work, marking five continuous years of the journal's publication. This issue is arriving at a crucial time for our schools and communities around the world, and in this brief essay, I argue that it's never been a more exciting and consequential time to be a school social worker.

Teen Depression, Stories Of Hope And Health: A Promising Universal School Climate Intervention For Middle School Youth, Michael S. Kelly, Peggy Kubert, Heather Freed

International Journal of School Social Work

This study describes the delivery of the Teen Depression: Stories of Health and Healing (TDSHH), a brief school-based depression awareness delivered for middle school students. The main objectives of the proposed evaluation were to examine the effects of TDSHH on middle school health students in the areas of knowledge about depression, willingness to seek help from adults and belief that adults can help. Two Chicago suburban middle schools agreed to be part of the TDSHH intervention study. In both schools, a pre/post-test wait-list control quasi-experimental design was used. Each student in the study (total N=223) completed a questionnaire that incorporated …

The Use Of Data In Decision Making For School-Based Social Work, Robert Lucio, Michael Campbell, Michael S. Kelly

International Journal of School Social Work

Industries are increasingly taking advantage of the access provided in the digital age to use data to inform business and practice-based decision making. The profession of social work has recently called for social workers to become more data-driven, through its Grand Challenge to leverage technology such as data-driven decision making for social good. School-Based Social Workers, who often work in educational contexts that demand they collect and use data are being asked to figure out ways to engage data to help promote evidence-informed practices and process level changes. Using a scoping review, this article looks at the state of the …

Individual Personalized Learning, Judy Hughey

Educational Considerations

What is personalized learning? Our ancestors reveled in personalized learning, orally sharing stories of family and community history. Certainly, it could be said that the oral histories shared within families might not always be entirely accurate; perhaps they were revised year-to-year or revised due to memory issues. However, the criteria of relevancy and meaningfulness that made the personalization of the oral sharing of family history successful are what makes personalized learning successful today.

It’S About Time: Initial Findings From A Feasibility Study Of A Time-Study Tool For School Social Workers In Michigan, Michael S. Kelly, Steven Whitmore

International Journal of School Social Work

Starting in late Summer of 2015, the two authors began collaborating on the pilot testing of a school social work (SSW) time-study tool with a sample of SSW in suburban Detroit (n=9). This article details the path towards the development of the time-study tool, drawing from the extant literature on workload and caseload issues in related special education fields, and resulting in the time-study tool that was first piloted with SSW in 2015-2016. Initial data from year one of the two-year 2015-2017 pilot project is shared in this article, along with qualitative data based on interviews with the SSW in …

Data-Driven Recommendations For Promoting Collaboration Among School Security Personnel And School Social Workers In The United States, Soohyoung Lee, Matthew Cuellar

International Journal of School Social Work

In response to recent incidents of school violence in the United States over the last two decades, there has been a nationwide increase in the use of school security personnel in today’s schools. Concurrently, school social work practice continues to grow as a subspecialty of social work that provides crucial services to youth in school. Despite this increase in demand across both fields of practice, and an overlap in professional interests, current research suggests that we know little about how school social workers interact with and perceive school security personnel within their schools, and ultimately how such interaction and collaboration …

Cognitive Behavioral Intervention For Trauma In Schools (Cbits): A School Social Work Perspective, Karla B. Horton Phd, Lmsw

International Journal of School Social Work

This article reviews research about the effects of traumatic events on the functioning of children and adolescents in a school setting. Interventions with traumatic stressors have been shown to work best when they incorporate multiple elements such as policy change, teacher and administration buy-in, and parent meetings. One intervention, Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS), has been successfully developed and implemented by school social workers, teachers, and parents to address a range of traumatic stressors. This article will review CBITS training and examine how it could be used to address traumatic stressors in children and adolescents to lower …

Using Propensity Score Matching To Evaluate Differences In Public And Private Students On Self-Control, Matthew Hanauer

International Journal of School Social Work

With the Educational Childhood Longitudinal Kindergarten Cohort class of 2011 (ECLSK-2011) database, I used propensity score matching and a longitudinal multilevel model to evaluate how 4970 kindergarteners in public (assigned public, charter, or magnet) and private (religious, non-religious private) schools, who were matched on a host of covariates, differed on a psychometrically sound self-control construct from fall 2010 to spring 2012. I found no statistically significant difference in self-control scores between private and public-school children. I discuss possible more effective and equitable mechanisms for improving student self-control, as well as suggesting guidance for future research on this topic.

Faculty Advising: Teaching, Research, Or Service?, Wendy Troxel, Jennifer Joslin

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Mentoring and advising from faculty members play a major role in students’ understanding of higher education, the curriculum, and ownership of meeting their academic goals and career aspirations.

This interactive session addresses the incentives (or lack of incentives) for faculty to see academic advising as a fundamental and rewarding element of their work in higher education.

Judgment Doesn't Heal The Hurting, Kara Lasater

Educational Considerations

Judgment interferes with the development of all relationships. For students and families who have experienced trauma, judgment can be particularly devastating as it may further damage the survivor’s already compromised sense of safety, trust, and belonging. As educators, we must develop non-judgmental attitudes toward students and families, yet sometimes our lack of self-awareness and problematic ideological positions lead us to judge. In this essay, I describe my personal journey with families and the ideological shift I experienced as I became more self-aware and attentive to others’ stories. It is my hope that my experiences will challenge other educators to engage …

College Access For Undocumented Students And Law, Jessica C. Enyioha

Educational Considerations

There are over 32 million undocumented immigrants in the United States and of this population, over 1.5 million are children (Palmer & Davidson, 2011). These children grow up in the US, achieve primary and secondary education, and when they are ready to pursue postsecondary education, it becomes harder for them to achieve. In this paper, undocumented students’ access to postsecondary education in the US is examined: laws that affect their access to postsecondary education, previous cases on access to education for undocumented students, and the difficulties undocumented students often encounter when pursuing postsecondary education are discussed and analyzed. Best practices …

Editorial Board 2018-2019, Leticia Villarreal Sosa

International Journal of School Social Work

Editorial Boards 2018-2019

The Development Of A Social Work Program For An Islamic Day School In Southwestern Ontario, Siham Elkassem, Rick Csiernik

International Journal of School Social Work

The Development of a Social Work Program for an

Islamic Day School in Southwestern Ontario

Abstract

This article examines the evolution of a social work program for an Islamic Day School in London, Ontario, Canada. The Muslim Resource Centre for Social Support and Integration (MRCSSI), and London Islamic School (LIS) developed A Safe Space for Children (SPC) school social work program after extensive community consultation and feedback from leadership and school teachers revealed the need for mental health supports for students. A program implementation and evaluation design was developed by the MRCSSI in collaboration with the LIS and accepted by …

Parents’ Perception Of School Violence, Awareness Of Risk Factors, And School Safety: An Ecological Perspective, Hussein Hassan Soliman, Jennifer Koran, Abdel-Salam Gomaa

International Journal of School Social Work

Parents’ concerns about school violence and school safety have been documented in many research studies (Diaz-Vicario & Sallan, 2017; Hundeloh & Hess, 2003). Understanding parents’ perceptions of school safety can be an important issue that will guide teachers (Bosworth, Ford, & Hernandaz, 2011), administrators and staff (Heisterkamp, & Fleming, 2011), and legislators (Elliott, 2015) in setting strategies to enhance school safety and school climate. The purpose of this study is to identify factors that contribute to parents’ views of school safety. Based on existing literature, this study developed a model of one main endogenous variable -- feelings of instructional safety …

School Social Workers: A Call To Action In Support Of Human Rights, Leticia Villarreal Sosa, Raylinn Nuckolls

International Journal of School Social Work

The global climate of extremism and direct attacks on marginalized groups such as LGBTQI persons, Muslims, women, immigrants, and refugees creates a need at this critical juncture for school social workers to ground themselves in the international definition of social work, which defines social work as a human rights profession. While there are many challenges to upholding human rights conventions across the world, a human rights framework can assist school social workers in promoting human rights and advocating for vulnerable and marginalized populations. In the context of global migration, children can be especially vulnerable to human rights violations. A human …

Editorial Board 2017-2018

International Journal of School Social Work

Editorial Board

School Social Work In A Global Context, Leticia Villarreal Sosa, Michael S. Kelly

International Journal of School Social Work

We are pleased to announce our second issues of the International Journal of School Social Work (IJSSW). With its publication, IJSSW continues our focus on providing open access to evidence based and peer reviewed literature to school social workers around the world. As social workers, our practice is inherently global regardless of where we practice and by creating ways to share information across borders. When we practice from a global social work perspective, we appreciate diversity and understand global issues that face the students and families we serve. In particular, this understanding comes with special attention to differences in privilege, …

Empowering Students Through The Application Of Self-Efficacy Theory In School Social Work: An Intervention Model, Nancy A. Delich, Stephen D. Roberts

International Journal of School Social Work

Self-efficacy is a construct well suited for social workers in the educational setting. Among the various job functions that school social workers assume, a large portion of their time is directed toward providing counseling and clinical services. Perceptions of self-efficacy are based upon the extent students expect to successfully attain their goals. Self-efficacious students with strong beliefs in their abilities will choose activities and social situations where they believe that they will be successful. Thus, they will be motivated to devote more time and effort toward accomplishing related goals. Conversely, inefficacious students of similar intelligence and capabilities may choose to …