Students are increasingly experiencing social-emotional, behavioral, and mental health challenges. Although it is necessary to pinpoint students' academic, social-emotional, and behavioral deficits, it is essential to focus on assessing the student's strengths as a central component in intervention planning to improve student outcomes. A scoping review was conducted to identify rating scales recognized as strengths-based screeners in the literature for K-8 students and examine those scales based on 12 rating scale criteria. Four online databases and standard reference books were used to identify screeners in the literature from 1997 to 2024 that met the eligibility criteria. The RAND Education Assessment Finder was used to identify gray literature. The screeners found in the literature were examined using the 12 rating scale criteria. Research of the literature resulted in 110 sources reviewed. Twenty screeners were identified from the 46 sources screened for evidence, resulting in three scales that best met the criteria for a strengths-based screener: Social-Emotional Assets and Resilience Scales, Devereux Student Strengths Assessment-Mini, and Social Skills Improvement System Social and Emotional Learning Brief Scales. Many screeners are referred to as strengths-based but focus on student deficits. This scoping review synthesizes the literature, discusses gaps in knowledge, and highlights 12 rating scale criteria as one approach to identifying strengths-based brief screening tools. As a vital member of the school-based team, school social workers can assist in selecting strength-based screeners to enhance Tier 2 interventions and student outcomes.
School social workers provide mental health services to millions of students each year. However, few studies focus on how social workers generate funding and other support for school mental health. The purpose of this study is to identify the continuum of school mental health supports and how social workers advocate for and generate these supports. This study examines variation in school social worker experiences across three school types: Chicago neighborhood schools, Chicago charter schools, and Chicago-area suburban schools. This study uses the ecological systems framework to structure the interview guide and inform coding. This study finds three major themes: (1) schools improve student access to mental health services, (2) social workers advocate for mental health supports differently depending on their school type, and (3) schools sideline social workers through inadequate support of their positions. Findings suggest greater support for school social work positions and greater collaboration between administrators and school social workers to fully leverage available resources and meet student mental health needs.
Spanish-speaking immigrant students, particularly those from Central America, constitute a rapidly growing subpopulation in U.S. public schools. As primary institutions for socialization, cultural learning, and academic knowledge development, schools often offer immigrant students their first experience of U.S. cultures and the English language. However, schools may mirror broader sociopolitical dynamics of marginalization and social exclusion. The current qualitative study, which explored the school-based experiences of Central American immigrant adolescent students enrolled in English language learner (ELL) programming, sheds light on the specific dynamics of social inclusion (and exclusion) in public schools as institutions, and how such dynamics impact processes of acculturation and overall sense of belonging. Specifically, participant perspectives highlighted the ways in which the institutional design of ELL programs, as well as highly racialized and assimilative school policies and practices, hinder cultural exchange and social inclusion.
This article highlights a research study investigating how school social workers (SSWers) are prepared during their MSW programs to work in various school settings. A survey was completed by 175 SSWers at the School Social Work Association of America 2019 National Conference. The results suggest that survey participants deemed insufficient the level of school social work (SSW) preparedness received at degree-granting institutions. For example, 38 percent of respondents did not take an SSW course, 49 percent did not intern in a school setting, and 85 percent would have benefited from additional SSW courses. Further, the respondents discussed numerous areas of improvement to be addressed by SSW preparation programs and employment settings, including preparation for the political environment of schools and more intensive onboarding and mentoring in their first years of service. The evidence also points to the fortitude of SSWers to persevere in their educational settings. In response to the survey results, the study researchers organized an edited book titled The Art of Becoming Indispensable: What School Social Workers Need to Know in Their First Three Years of Practice. Limitations and implications for SSW practice are discussed as well.
On September 4, 2024, a 14-year-old student at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, opened fire on his classmates, killing two teachers and two students with a semiautomatic rifle. This abhorrent act of violence prompted a national outpouring of sympathy, including from the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). In a message of support to the Apalachee High School community, School Social Work Association of America (SSWAA) president Terriyln Rivers-Cannon extended condolences and emphasized the essential role that school social workers (hereafter SSWs) play in providing trauma-focused services and promoting healing in the wake of unspeakable tragedy. These are crucial aspects of our professional obligations and capacities, particularly in situations when student and staff mental health is so grievously imperiled. However, responding to school violence is no longer an isolated aspect of our role as SSWs, as such “crises” have become a developmental hallmark of American childhood. Since the Columbine High School massacre of 1999, more than 383,000 students have experienced gun violence at school (Cox et al., 2024). Immediately following the Apalachee shooting, threats or actual incidents of school violence were reported in Florida, Tennessee, Nebraska, and Iowa (Everytown for Gun Safety, 2024a).
