The demands of federal legislation like No Child Left Behind and state requirements for certification are making it increasingly necessary that school social workers demonstrate that they are highly qualified school-based mental health and social service professionals who can demonstrate outcomes that impact school bottom line issues.

School social work enters its second century as a profession still conflicted about its central mission. Are school social workers meant to be "in-house" clinicians providing services to kids in need, or are they meant to be involved in program development to enhance the social and emotional learning of all students in a school? How much time should they devote to serving whole families, or consulting with teachers? Whatever school social workers claim to do in their schools, it's clear that they are going to have to prove that they are effective doing it. The demands of federal legislation like No Child Left Behind and state requirements for certification are making it increasingly necessary that school social workers demonstrate that they are highly qualified school-based mental health and social service professionals who can demonstrate outcomes that impact school "bottom line" issues like student achievement, attendance, and behavior. Rather than recoil from this pressure, school social workers can utilize the skills of evidence based practice (EBP) to help them enhance both their effectiveness and their knowledge of interventions that work to help students, teachers, parents, and staff in school contexts. A succinct SSWAA Workshop volume, The Domains and Demands of School Social Work Practice demonstrates how EBP can be integrated into school social worker's daily practice, advancing the debate about where social workers can and should intervene, and how to do so effectively. Highlighting primary clinical issues, family problems, and school-wide needs faced by school social workers, it helps practitioners make the best use of evidence to be flexible, effective advocates at all levels of practice.

Offering a unique focus on evidence-based interventions, critical thinking, and diversity, School Social Work: A Direct Practice Guide, by JoAnn Jarolmen, covers the foundations of working with children and adolescents in the schools. Each chapter reviews a basic concept and then provides two in-depth activities that allow readers to apply the concepts to a variety of client populations. Practical, hands-on experiences, best practice approaches, and case examples throughout the book allow readers to see assessments and techniques in action and increase their understanding of the nuances and complexities of working in a school environment.

Response to Intervention (RtI) is at the heart of evidence-based practice in schools. Though written into federal special education legislation, it is a general education process consisting of a three-tiered framework for organizing a comprehensive and differentiated system designed to ensure educational success for all students. The focus in this book is on meeting the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of students. School social workers are key stakeholders who need to be skilled in designing, monitoring, and evaluating the effectiveness of school-wide universal supports, targeted group interventions, and intensive individual interventions in objective and measurable terms. Designed as both a training manual and a practical reference, with contributions by seasoned academics and practitioners with extensive experience developing and practicing in RtI systems, this one-of-a-kind guide operationalizes this crucial service delivery framework. It highlights the importance of data-based decision making and offers concrete guidelines for collecting, analyzing, and displaying data. Detailed case examples that illustrate real-world program implementation, practical guidance in selecting empirically supported practices, sample assessment worksheets, and strategies for supporting the adoption and sustainability of RtI systems make this a handy tool for school social workers seeking a more active role in using decision-making processes to improve their school's system of support for all students.

Despite their institutional preparation and lived experiences, new school social workers encounter numerous practices, political considerations, community engagement strategies, and seemingly fundamental elements involved in the learning curve needed to move from entry-level to proficiency. The Art of Being Indispensable What School Social Workers Need to Know in Their First Three Years of Practice contains content specific to what they will need in their first three years of practice, bridging the learning gap from their academic preparation to early employment in P-12 settings. Organized into four sections - The Host Environment, The Macro School Social Worker, Integration and Intervention, and School Social Worker Sustainability - the content of the book is framed by a mixed-methods study on the needs of new practitioners. It is an indispensable guide that new school social workers can consult to effectively execute their roles and responsibilities.

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Though recent legislation embedded with the No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act mandates the use of evidence in school-based practice to demonstrate positive outcomes for all students, school social workers - especially those long out of school - often lack the conceptual tools to locate, evaluate, and apply evidence in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of their work. The first of its kind tailored specifically to this audience, this SSAAA Workshop title guides school professionals in infusing research throughout their daily practice. It shows school service providers a pragmatic approach to informing every major practice decision with the appropriate research so that students receive the best possible services. This includes how to use research to make reliable and valid assessments, how to use research to choose the best intervention, and how to do research to evaluate progress. Raines goes beyond creating a catalog of interventions that will soon be outdated and provides school social workers with a detailed road map of the EBP process. Chapters detail the nuts and bolts of EBP, explaining how to ask a relevant, answerable question; where to search for evidence; how to appraise the literature and avoid the pitfalls of web based information; how to adapt and apply the evidence in a developmentally and culturally sensitive way; and how to evaluate the results. Detailed examples along the way, including sample spreadsheets practitioners can easily adapt to evaluate their students' progress, bring accountability within reach for school professionals who struggle to find the time, resources, and support sufficient to apply the best evidence to their schools.