Illinois PEL - Social Work Content Exam

Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA)

An assessment procedure to examine specific behaviors that may be impeding a student's academic and/or behavioral success in the school environment. The goal is to gather information about the cause and reasons behind specific behaviors that a student may exhibit.

Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP)

A working document outlining a student's problem behavior, antecedents, consequences, and the function of the behavior. Its goal is to shape behavior towards ones that are pro-academic or pro-social & meet student needs.

Abuse and Neglected Child Reporting Act

A state law intended to protect the health, safety, and best interests of the child in all situations where the child is vulnerable to child abuse or neglect. It provides for reporting and investigation.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

A federal law passed in 1990, and amended in 2008, that prohibits discrimination and guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to participate in mainstream American life - to enjoy employment opportunities, to purchase goods and services, and to participate in state and local gov't programs and services.

The Children's Mental Health Act of 2003

a state law with short and long term recommendations for providing comprehensive, coordinated mental health prevention, early intervention, and treatment services for children from birth to age 18. Law realizes that emotional and social development significantly impact school readiness and academic success.

Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records

A federal regulation that governs confidentiality for individuals (including minors) seeking treatment for substance use disorders from federally assisted programs. It requires consent of the minor prior to the disclosure of information from patient records if the minor obtained treatment without parental consent. If parental consent is needed to obtain treatment, consent from both the parent and minor is needed before disclosing information from client records.

Erin's Law

A state law requiring school districts to adopt and implement policy addressing sexual abuse in children, including:

- age appropriate curriculum

- training for school personnel on child sexual abuse

- educational info to parents on the warning signs of abuse

- counseling and resources for students experiencing sexual abuse

- emotional and educational support for a child of abuse

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

Replaced the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) with the following purposes

- advance equity for disadvantaged/high needs students

- teaching all students to high academic standards

- annual statewide assessments

- evidence-based interventions

- increase access to preschool

- positive change in lowest performing schools

- preparing migrant children for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

A federal law that governs student confidentiality in schools. It requires that schools not divulge, reveal or share any personally identifiable information about a student or his/her family, unless it is with another school employee who needs the information to work with the student. An exception is the publishing of student directory information.

Parents or eligible students have the right to inspect and review the student's education records maintained by the school and have the right to request that a school correct records that they believe to be inaccurate or misleading.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

A federal law with goals to improve continuity of group and individual health insurance coverage, combat waste and fraud in health insurance and health care delivery, improve access to long-term care services, and simplify the administration of health insurance.

Illinois Administrative Code (IAC) - Title 23

Contains the state's administrative rules on education and cultural resources. Rules pertaining to education are proposed by ISBE and approved by a subgroup of the Illinois General Assembly called the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR)

Illinois Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code

The law states that any person may request information from a developmental disability or mental health facility relating to whether a minor has been admitted to the facility. The law describes the rights of minors receiving inpatient and outpatient treatment in a mental health facility, including their right to consent to counseling services. Overseen by IL DHS

Illinois School Code

This compilation of statues describes Illinois' policies and directives regarding powers and duties of school boards and districts with respect to finances, health, and safety programs, school records and reports, strategic planning, and administration of programs. Contains information on school funding, roles of school personnel, and information about general education and special education programming authorized through ISBE.

Illinois School Student Records Act

Describes the requirements for the maintenance and destruction of student records. addresses the disclosure of records, the rights of parent and students to access records, procedures for challenging the content of records, and penalties for noncompliance with the law. Protects the disclosure of privileged or confidential communications, including information communicated in confidence to a school social worker/intern.

McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 2001

A federal law requiring that all children and youth experiencing homelessness have access to a FAPE. Schools must provide children and youth experiencing homelessness with access to the education and services they need to ensure them an opportunity to meet the same challenging standards as other students. Each region in IL has a homeless liaison - each district must have one, too.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

Is a section of the a federal civil rights law which reads in part, that no "otherwise qualified handicapped individual" shall be excluded from participation in program or activity receiving federal financial assistance ("college, university or other post-secondary institution, or a public system of higher education") It is much broader in its definition of "handicap" than is the IDEA and it is a much more general law in that it doesn't not provide specific direction on how to address the needs of individuals with disabilities, referring only to the fact that schools must make "reasonable accommodations." Because of its broader definition students who do not qualify for special education services under the IDEA may be considered "handicap" under Section 504.

DREAMers/Undocumented Students

State and federal laws guarantee the right of all students to a free public education through grade 12 or until the age 21 - regardless of status.

- The immigration status of the parent or child has no bearing on the rights of the student to enroll and receive equitable education

- Caregivers cannot be required to produce any single document for their child's enrollment

LGBTQIA+

These youth can be victims of physical violence, homelessness, and/or be at an increased risk for suicide. These students face discrimination, harassment, and marginalization both within school settings and throughout communities across the country.

Social work efforts

- developing anti-bullying interventions

- advising gay-straight alliances

- training staff on issues & diversity

- influencing school policies and curricula to be more inclusive

Children from Military

Families

Signs of distress in this population leading up to and after deployment:

- unfocused agitation

- disconnection from peers and adults

- serious depression or withdrawal

- auditory or visual hallucinations

- prolonged major changes from normal functioning

Children Experiencing Homelessness

These children have a right to an education in either the school district in which the child previously attended or the school in the attendance area in which the child currently resides.

Can include:

- children sharing housing of other persons due to a loss of housing

- pupils who are not residing in a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence

social work role

- can be district homeless liaison

- help families obtain housing, food, and transportation

Children of Incarcerated Parents

Increased risks of:

- antisocial behavior

- mental health problems

- drug use

- school failure

- unemployment

- stereotyping from other students

*provide for social/emotional needs + connect to community resources

Youth in Care

Children in foster care; grandparents as guardians; kinship care (relatives/close friends)

- high mobility rates can lead to delays in academic progress

- keep YIC in their school or origin when living placements change

- YIC who change schools should be promptly enrolled with relevant school records

role of SWer:

- obtaining support services to caregivers who are unfamiliar with educational settings

- provide appropriate opportunities for positive educational outcomes

Students who are Pregnant/Parenting

Risks

- social, health, and financial costs to teens and families

- children born to teen parents are likely to repeat grades, have lower academic achievement, & are more likely to drop out

- they are also more likely to enter the child welfare & correctional systems

*IL school code allows youth to receive home instruction or take correspondence courses when they are medically unable to attend school before birth + up to 3 months after

*school SWers should address social/emotional effects

Ecological Systems Theory & School as Org

The school social worker, drawing upon the person-in-environment approach, sees the self as a professional-in-organization; the below systems (1) interact and interrelate with one another and (2) the individual has the capacity to construct & shape (rather than be shaped by) the systems in which he/she/they participate

Microsystems - family, peer groups, and schools (within environmental contexts); school = student peer groups, classrooms, teams, parent groups, and formal and informal faculty

Mesosystems - the relationships that develop between microsystems

Exosystems - contexts in which the individual does not necessarily participate in directly like Community orgs & school boards

SSWAA Practice Model

- provide evidence-based education, behavior, and mental health services

- promote a school climate and culture conducive to student learning & teaching excellence

- maximize access to school-based and community-based resources

Early Childhood

period of development from 1 to 6 years of age; maintaining attachment while beginning to explore world & self; learning to control impulses; learning about status, roles, & rituals; beginning to develop language and sense of self with "I" and "me;" begin to understand parents' point of view; strategies for coping/regulation - play, self-stimulation, language

Middle Childhood

6-11 years; have developed many more strategies for emotional regulation than in early childhood; children are beginning to see the world as a place with its own laws and customs, about which they must learn and into which they must assimilate themselves; latency stage - ability to maintain control & calm; begin understanding social perspectives of others; begin to have empathy (prosocial behavior), begin identifying themselves within groups > individual; minority children identify their status/hierarchy based on (class, race, gender, ability, ethnicity)

Adolescence

Risk taking behaviors; heightened desire for independence; egocentrism; puberty & growth spurt; Piaget's formal operations - able to think in new and novel ways; moral development - ability to imagine a variety of outcomes for an event; development of emotional intelligence, self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, & relational management

Early Adulthood

Erikson's identity exploration; finding one's niche in society (relationships, vocation, love, work, residence); more autonomy than adolescence, less responsibilities than adulthood; defined by possibilities & optimism; striving towards independence (financially, making decisions, accepting self-responsibility); exploring spirituality and/or religion

Culture & Human Development

most cultures begin schooling at ages 5 or 6; race, socioeconomic status, & ethnicity greatly shape a way a child develops their sense of self (in comparison with the dominant majority) & language acquisition (how many languages are they learning & are they conducive to the language used at school/larger context); foster youth more likely to experience homelessness & have much less privilege & exploration at adolescence & emerging adulthood; context & cultural also influences resilience

Object Relations Theory

the psychodynamic theory that views the desire for relationships as the key motivating force in human behavior; explores the process whereby people come to experience themselves as separate and independent from others, while at the same time needing profound attachment to others

Systems Theory

Factors at each level (micro, mezzo, macro) & how they interact with one another to shape the lived experience; from which risk & protective factors derive; when conducting an assessment (bio-psycho-social-spiritual)

Micro - IQ, age, gender, income, health, language, spirituality, recreation, emotion, cognition, self-esteem

Mezzo - local economy & resource, coworkers, work, family, church, neighborhood

Macro - government, discrimination & oppression, history, services & resources, cultural values, community, economics, politics

Feminist Theory

a theoretical approach that looks at gender inequities in society and the way that gender structures the social world; emphasizes how social, political, & economic structures should be considered based on the effects of oppression & domination, power & powerlessness; intersectionality

strengths-based approach

an approach to interventions that focuses on the positive attributes of the client and the client's environment; client knows best about problem/issue & has the strengths within themselves to be built upon; advocating and mobilizing resources for individuals, families, or communities; empowerment (helping create influence to increase strengths towards improving own circumstances)

Person-in-Environment

A practice-guiding principle in social work that highlights the importance of understanding an individual and individual behavior in light of the environmental contexts in which that person lives and acts.

Biological level - diet, health, sexual functioning, medication and substance use, family health & genetic history

Psychological level - self-esteem, coping skills, mental health (past & present); personality traits, family history of mental illness, spiritual development, cognitive & emotional development

Social level - work stability; engagement with social activities & recreation; relationships with family, friends, and co-workers

Behavior may be understood by understanding its context, as it relates to other settings, and as these settings related to one another; attending to the complexities of the environment as we would the individual; engaging the progressive forces in people and situational assets, and effecting the removal or environmental obstacles to growth and adaptive functioning

psychodynamic theory

Any theory of behavior that emphasizes internal conflicts, motives, and unconscious forces

Common Issues in a School SW Setting

(1) social interpersonal or family problems (2) aggression/disruptive behavior/bullying (3) behavior problems associated with neurological disorders like ADHD (4) adjustment issues (5) anxiety, stress, school phobia (6) depression and grief reactions

NASW Stance on School SW

School social workers seek to ensure equitable education opportunities; ensure that all students are mentally, physically, and emotionally present in the classroom; promote the respect and dignity for all students

Purpose of Social and Emotional Learning

Common elements of programs to implement (1) learning environments are safe, caring, well-managed, and participatory (2) social and emotional competency instruction in self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, relationship skills, & responsible decision-making

Structural

Family Theory

Salvador Minuchin; goal = shift the family hierarchy to influence change (need effective authority & hierarchy); families need clear boundaries, power, & alignment; families need stable relationship alliances and communication skills; families organize themselves in relation to the problem they are experiencing; functional hypothesis (presenting current structure to family); interventions (joining, enactment, unbalancing)

Solution Focused Brief Therapy

A postmodern approach to therapy that provides a context whereby individuals focus on recovering and creating solutions rather than talking about their problems.

goal-oriented; avoids problem-focused talk; addresses negative client mindset resulting from lack of success in solving problem; future-focused; build on what works & help people identify what they want vs. what they don't want; no history collection; interventions (miracle question, goal setting, scaling questions, exploring exceptions, relative/relationship questions; compliments)

Family Systems Theory

A perspective on family functioning that emphasizes interconnections among different family relationships (such as marital, parent-child, sibling).

Murray Bowen; the anxiety bias (we are creatures of anxiety & anxious attachment that want to lean out of it and diffuse it elsewhere); intergenerational family patterns are caught & taught; use of the genogram (3 generations) to understand family patterns of interaction; psychodynamic + systems theory (integrative model); 6 concepts - self differentiation; triangles; multigenerational emotional processes; fusion and cutoff; sibling position/birth order; societal emotional processes (isms); symptoms = anxiety & toxic issues + stressors on life cycle; interventions - neutralizing triangles; process questions; relationship experiments; coaching; "I" position

Principles for School SW with Families

1) understand family structure and process (2) use a strengths-based approach (3) develop a partnership (4) use the school as a holding system for development while changes take place (5) never work with a pupil without some connection with the family

organizational characteristics of schools

(1) culture (2) structuring of power (3) openness toward its environment; "the way the school works"; important to consider how school are influenced by their surrounding environments - the community, cultural values and practices, policies at the local, state, and national levels, and events and trends in broader society (unemployment, migration patterns)

Mediation

A method of settling disputes outside of court by using the services of a neutral third party, called a mediator. The mediator acts as a communicating agent between the parties and suggests ways in which the parties can resolve their dispute.

used specifically when a resolution session is needed for a child with disabilities recommended placement; encouraged without the need for attorneys or hearing officers; state mediation procedures can be used instead of resolution

Conflict Resolution Strategies

Avoiding

Collaborating

Competing

Compromising

Cooperating/accommodating

Smoothing

IDEIA (2004) provides for a resolution session to occur without an attorney. If the parent does attend with an attorney, the school needs one as well. This would be followed with a due process hearing. If still unresolved after these formal measures are taken, it could go to court.

impartial due process hearing

a hearing by an impartial officer that is held to resolve differences between a school and parents of a student with disabilities

procedural safeguards - right to be accompanied or advised by counsel and by experts, the right to present evidence, the right to confront, cross-examine, and compel the attendance of witnesses, the right to a verbatim record, and the write to written findings of facts and decisions; the child's placement remains the same unless he or she has not been admitted to public school

crisis intervention

a treatment approach that tries to help people in a psychological crisis to view their situation more accurately, make better decisions, act more constructively, and overcome the crisis

a process for actively influencing psychosocial functioning during a period of disequilibrium in order to alleviate the immediate impact of disruptive stressful events and to help mobilize the manifest and latent psychological capabilities and social resources of persons directly affected by the crisis (and often the key persons in the social environment) for coping adaptively with the effects of stress; goals = deal with the immediate crisis + strengthen the individual's coping abilities for the future

people processing & people changing perspectives

rules that govern behavior that set limits or create admissions criteria; school social workers must address organizational decision-making, school modes of operation, patterns of student processing, student change; and whether these patterns are appropriately or inappropriately different among students with particular attributes *considering ~ income, identity, stigma, rules/procedures, etc.; to make schools more inclusive, supportive, and productive

routinized action perspective

the ability to examine, analyze, and initiate changes in routines to better address environmental challenges in schools; questions for social workers to ask (a) why is this [routine] the way it is? (b) Is anything different this year compared to last year? (c) when was the last time we thought about changing the way we do this activity? (d) does the general student population feel success with the way we currently run things? ( e) if we could change one thing about this programming, what would it be?; responding to demographic changes or students, families, & communities

diversity change perspective

responding to multicultural staff, students & communities through the development of cultural humility [competence] which can be initiated by the social worker

postmodern perspectives

Being skeptical of generalizations, specifically about groups of people; emphasizes the role of power in structuring organizational relations; openly avoiding the dominant point of view; does not allow for assumptions, while giving validity to the lived experiences of all students; promotes incorporating the qualitative experiences of students within quantitative data; social worker must step back from the organization and policies and understand the separate realities of students with varying experiences

Oppression in Schools

structural barriers (insufficient funding for mental health services for youth in urban public schools); interpersonal barriers (discrimination of students of disabilities in the classroom); need to challenge the belief that this is beyond the scope of the social work role (to tackle oppression in schools); schools can be actively, passively, or anti-oppressive; how to tackle (1) recognize privilege (2) reflect on policy and practice priorities (3) use data and multitiered interventions (4) own unique role of the social worker (5) align with anti-oppressive policies (6) involve oppressed youths, families, and community members

social justice & school social work

(1) educational practice and policy must be based on evidence of effectiveness (2) must be based on the purpose of equal access to free and appropriate education (3) evidence is used to develop policy and practice must be related to the needs and differences of the groups of students affected (4) must be aware of the active larger social context that affect the educational achievement of students (5) school social workers are called to act within society to fight against social injustice, discrimination, and oppression, and to support the rights and opportunities of all students

Bilingual Education/ELL

English Language Learners Act of 2001; goal = rapid acquisition of English; school receives grants for (1) resources for educational programs (2) training for teachers and aides (3) development and dissemination of materials and (4) parent involvement projects; since 1980s trend in education is "English only"

service delivery in schools

to make the educational process effective for students whose full participation in education is threatened or marginalized; the school social worker must be able to relate to and work with all aspects of the child's situation; skill = understanding and communicating what is happening and what is possible, building upon assessment, planning the teacher and students in the classroom, parents in the family, and others to help the child complete developmental steps

school SW values

1) each pupil is a valued as an individual regardless of any unique characteristic (2) each pupil should be allowed to share in the learning process (3) individual differences should be recognized, intervention should be aimed at supporting pupils' education goals (4) each child, regardless of race & SES has a right to equal treatment in the school

Assessment & Decision-Making

some students can be well served in the school environment through social skills groups, individual counseling, and crisis intervention. Others require referrals to outside providers for psychiatric evaluations, long-term mental health care, and family counseling; the SSWer must determine which students have the most pressing needs and which interventions would be most efficient and effective

When to refer out - children at risk for suicide, child maltreatment, or criminal justice involvement

pre-referral process

(1) review of records including past and current interventions (2) interviews with teachers, student, and parent (3) observations with the student in multiple environments/settings (4) testing and determining a hypothesis as to why the problem behavior is occurring from information collected through the record review, interviews, and observations; ICEL & RIOT assessments before problem-solving team has the problem-solving meeting

problem-solving team

multidisciplinary team members that use a systematic approach to solving problems with the use of data-based decision making (administration, general education teachers, school social workers, school psychologists, specialists, and parents); goal = identify interventions, monitor them, and determine the success of their supports

problem solving meeting

multidisciplinary meetings (including parents) where the team engages to determine individualized supports for students within the general education environment using general education resources; (1) is there a problem, what is it? (2) why is it happening? (3) what can be done? (4) did the intervention work?; *important to work with data when discussing and advocating for students

Tier I

Schoolwide efforts to prevent learning problems and quickly intervene. Early identification of high risk students. Individualized instruction.

Defining common expectations of teaching, modeling, reinforcing, and reteaching school expectations as needed; teach positive behavior, have clear expectations, and employ a process of recognizing students for engaging in positive behavior, to define what consequences are, and to have a data system to inform future practice; universal screeners to identify students in need of SEL support

ensure a school climate conducive to learning

Tier II

interventions assign children to small pull-out groups in which subject-area specialists help them catch up

should not be individuated but instead designed for groups of students so that they can easily access them and teachers can implement them; teachers should be involved in the process of designing them; examples - check in check out, social/academic instructional groups, and group or individual mentoring; social work role = oversee curriculum selection, grouping of students, data tracking, and training of the group facilitators

small group & short term

- target conflict resolution

-

Tier III

for those who do not respond to Tier I and Tier II, includes the traditional services of school psychologists and SpEd teachers. "Learning Disability" label is not used until Tier III

person-centered or function-based comprehensive planning for individual students

what parents expect of school SWers

(1) positive, understandable, and respectful communication (2) commitment to the child and family (3) equality in decision making and service implementation & equal power to influence outcomes (4) demonstrated professional skills and competence (5) trust - confidence in the dependability, ability, strength, and veracity (6) respect, mutual regard, and esteem in actions and communications with the school

Systems Theory with Families

-lends itself well to complex, systemic problems, as route toward individual help goes through the family, the student, and the living situation, surrounding institutions - all can be used to help the student in life tasks

- Helps student cope with developmental needs of life circumstances

· Begin with a focus on environmental changes, as they may have the most rapid results - Even small changes in the classroom environment with the teacher or in the home environment with the parents may be enough to give the child an opportunity to cope more effectively (without children having to see themselves differently or recipients of a direct intervention)

· Small changes in the worlds that children inhabit, and corresponding changes in their relations to each other, create larger changes in the total environment supporting the child's learning to cope differently

· Social workers do not need to take on the role of 1-1 work with the child when a teacher or parent has already done so as part of the team effort

Trauma-informed approach

A person-centered and strengths-based service delivery approach that recognizes the prevalence of trauma among clients across settings and human services systems

- Trauma is a public health issue

- School SWers understand the impact that trauma has had on students and how these events often intersect with other structural issues (racism & other inequities)

Goals - reduce barriers; overcome stigma; address social adversities; strengthen families; encourage positive ethnic identity

Addresses ACEs/Trauma through - (direct emotional support, training of teachers, supportive environment, 1 helpful adult)

Considerations for collaboration & consultation

- Is there a specific student or classroom need?

- Are consultative services best approached formally or informally?

- Is there a need for a formal referral for services?

- How many times has the team already consulted about this student?

- What resources have already been provided? Which have been used?

- Are the consultative services suggestive of Tiers 1, 2, or 3?

- Should other members of the school team be involved in this discussion?

Referrals

local, state, or federal agencies

financial assistance, housing, DV, intensive therapy

school social workers should be familiar within the communities they service & maintain a comprehensive database of organizations

crisis intervention plan

reduce disruptions to school functioning, address social/emotional needs, assist with a return to pre-crisis levels of functioning

*schools should identify a crisis team (counselors, SWers, psychologists) + employees familiar with functioning of school (secretaries, custodians) + admin + community members (police - lol; firefighters)

individual behavioral support

-informal conversations with teachers and admin

- informal classroom observations

- intervention ideas

- review of behavioral data

- consult within classroom teams with teachers + related service providers

behavior strategies

positive reinforcement - adding something to the environment (verbal praise)

negative reinforcement - removing something (take away recess)

functions of behavior

1. Sensory/Automatic Reinforcement

2. Social Attention

3. Tangibles/Access

4. Escape/Avoidance

Advocacy

school SWers are advocates for all students and families, schools, and the overall community to facilitate change that effectively responds to identified needs

Goals = empower students, families, educators, and others to gain access to and effectively use school and community resources

want to increase student empowerment & decrease achievement gaps

documentation

an essential responsibility - maintaining accurate records while ensuring confidentiality

-assessing, monitoring, and evaluating a student's responsiveness to and the effectiveness of interventions, as well as evaluating social work practices

what/when to document

any contact with a student

- service type (individual or group, push in/pull out)

- length of contact

- generalized description of the intervention

guidelines - include professional language; be mindful of confidential information; be written from a strengths-based perspective; be locked in a secure space

school social workers should seek to be part of the team when a student management system is implemented to ensure that there are levels of protection within the system that prevent other school staff from accessing records of student contact with a school SWer

confidentiality

- SSW must respond in a respectful manner to maintain a positive working relationship while maintaining confidentiality

- remind colleagues about the boundaries of confidentiality

- explain why you cannot explain information

- confidentiality can be broken under "compelling professional reasons"

when to disclose/break confidentiality

disclosure is necessary to prevent serious, forseeable, and imminent harm to a client or others

-SSWers should disclose the least amount of confidential information necessary to achieve the desired purpose

- only info that is directly relevant to the purpose for which the disclosure is made should be revealed

- should consider that potential effects of breaches of confidentiality; disclose the least amount necessary; inform the student of the actions taken; carefully document actions taken & how that decision was made

- clinical supervision from experienced colleagues is needed (especially subpoena)

cultural humility

An acknowledgement of one's own barriers to true intercultural understanding

school Swers help create comfortable, inclusive, learning environments by

- consulting with other educational staff

- advocating for students from oppressed groups

- required by NASW

needs assessments

Tier 1 data based decision making approach to identify priority areas for school SW services & how to address them

to determine which MTSS components are sufficient and which need to be strengthened

student, school, and community needs >> what role educational policy plays

evidence-based programming

- the highest level of evidence is well supported

- researchers have no affiliation or personal connection to the program they are promoting + the results are positive

- promising practices >> researched & some evidence that they work

validity

The ability of a test to measure what it is intended to measure

Reliability

the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternate forms of the test, or on retesting

researcher bias

the influence, deliberate or not, a researcher exerts to get the preferred result

adaptive behavior

Those skills or abilities that enable the individual to meet standards of personal independence and responsibility that would be expected of his or her age and social group

social developmental study

part of an initial and evaluation which helps to inform the consideration for SpEd and related services when the social and emotional status is relevant within the evaluation

sources from which data obtained

- parent/guardian interview

- student interview

- observations of the student

- teacher/staff interviews

- review of records

- data collection tools and/or SEL rating scale

parent consent to evaluate/re-evaluate

after the parent/guardian grants consent for the evaluation, the SSWer should contact them within 10 days to schedule a parent interview

- safe and warm environment

- discuss the purpose of the assessment

- discuss comprehensive content of the evaluation

social assessment checklist

- record review (attendance, grades, interventions & response, teacher anecdotal records, behavior concerns, outside supports)

- structured (classroom, academic groups) & unstructured (lunch, recess) observations across settings

- teacher/staff interview (academic levels, social interactions, participation, behavioral concerns, frequency of behaviors, SEL interventions & effectiveness)

- student interview (student's perception, attitude toward - academics, peers, family, & school)

- data collection

- current/past parent concerns

- developmental, pregnancy, early childhood, medical family history

- family dynamics (parental history, education, culture, religion, who is in the home, relationship to student, age, school/employment, rules, relationships & norms)

- adaptive behaviors/self-help (dressing, bathing, social interactions, communication, health, sleep, meds, eating, awareness of safety, community engagement)

- recommendations (concerns, issues, strategies, accommodations, referrals, yes/no student would benefit?)

-summary

IEP

Individualized Education Program

- Describes the instruction, supports, and services that students are legally entitled to receive

Termination from Services

- primary disability no longer has a diverse impact on the student's educational performance

- achievement with goal attainment

- reasons for dismissal are well documented in data

- IEP team is in agreement

Transition Services

1. results oriented process focused on improving the academic and functional achievement of the child with a disability to facilitate a child's movement from school to post-school activities

2. based on individual child's needs (instruction, related services, community engagement, employment, daily living skills)

* begin when child is 14.5 and updated annually thereafter

third-party billing

refers to portion of payment reimbursed by insurance companies

In Illinois, Medicaid pays for some of the costs of direct, medically necessary related services that fall under the category School Based Health Services

info for billing - date of service, procedure codes, duration of service, diagnostic codes

consent for services

neither federal nor state education regulations specifically require written consent from a parent/guardian

until the consent of the minor's parent, guardian, or person in loco parentis has been obtained, outpatient counseling services or psychotherapy provided to a minor under the age of 17 shall be initially limited to not more than 8, 90 min sessions

empathy

the ability to understand and share the feelings of another

NASW Code of Ethics

service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, competence

RTI

applied to academic and behavioral supports in SpEd and regular education

direction of policy & research practice

(1) integrated intervention efforts emphasize primary prevention (2) early screening and intervention (3) approaches to intervention that target multiple risk factors in home, school, and community settings and involve parents, teachers, and administrators (4) approaches that seek to improve individual and system factors contributing to academic success (5) data informed decision making and intervention fidenlity

guiding principles of NASW school SW standards

(1) education/school reform

(2) social justice

(3) multitier interventions

service

Social workers' primary goal is to help people in need and to address social problems.

Social workers elevate service to others above self-interest. Social workers draw on their knowledge, values, and skills to help people in need and to address social problems. Social workers are encouraged to volunteer some portion of their professional skills with no expectation of significant financial return (pro bono service).

social justice

Social workers challenge social injustice.

Social workers pursue social change, particularly with and on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups of people. Social workers' social change efforts are focused primarily on issues of poverty, unemployment, discrimination, and other forms of social injustice. These activities seek to promote sensitivity to and knowledge about oppression and cultural and ethnic diversity. Social workers strive to ensure access to needed information, services, and resources; equality of opportunity; and meaningful participation in decision making for all people.