From the President
Social work education needs boost
By Jeane Anastas, PhD, LMSW
 For those of us in education, September brings us back to the
start of the traditional school year.
In this past year, Richard Arum and Josipa Roska’s 2011 book,
“Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses,” raised some
questions for us. Specifically, it finds that students majoring in social work
(along with those in business and education) score the lowest among undergraduates
on academic achievement.
How does a fast-growing field such as social work — which
requires both the synthesis and application of complex knowledge — not provide
one of the more rigorous courses of study in our colleges and universities?
Can a field that produces Nobel Peace Prize winners, top-ranking government
officials, innovative community leaders, well-respected clinicians, and many
others showcased at the recent “Restoring Hope” conference lack educational
rigor?
The test cited in Arum and Roska’s research is called the
Collegiate Learning Assessment. Using computers that also provide background
material for the test questions, test takers are given 90 minutes to respond to
a question that may require writing an effective memo about a controversial
business decision affecting airline safety, or writing arguments pro and con
for a political candidate’s position on crime reduction.
The test does not address specific content knowledge; rather
it asks students to apply critical thinking and reasoning skills to complex
scenarios with human consequences (e.g., product safety, social policy).
What predicted success on this test? A central finding was
that the rigor of the courses that students took made a big difference.
Students were asked if they took a course that had 40 pages of reading a week,
20 pages of writing over the semester, or both. Whatever the major, those who
said “yes” to one or especially to “both” did better on the test.
Undergraduate social work, business and education students were
least likely to say they had taken a course with one or both aspects of rigor.
Would most MSW students answer differently?
There were many other factors related to student achievement
that we might expect: parents’ educational attainment, the quality of students’
educational preparation at the secondary school level and the selectivity of
the educational institution — all of which also related to student race and
ethnicity.
Social work, business and education programs often had higher
proportions of students with risk factors in their backgrounds and were less
likely to be located in highly selective colleges and universities. Higher
achievement was also linked to those who received scholarships versus loans.
It is always tempting to explain away research findings that
make us uncomfortable. The social work profession welcomes students from across
the socioeconomic spectrum and strives to be as diverse as its client base. Our
strength lies in the dedication and creativity of those who choose social work
over other careers because it meets two core values: advocacy and service.
But social work practice also requires clear thinking about
complex situations and the ability to formulate a view and express it
effectively to a variety of audiences. This leads me to believe that increasing
student skills in critical thinking, reading comprehension and writing is
essential to career success.
Equally important are fresh approaches to classroom learning,
the range of field placements we offer students, sources of academic funding
and the variety of employers we recruit to hire our graduates.
It has been well-documented that the complexity of practice
challenges social workers face is increasing. We owe it to future professionals
and our nation to replicate and expand the very best of what our profession
provides in training for nonprofit leadership, medical social work,
psychotherapy, community organizing, child protection, aging services and much
more.
As we begin another school year — as full-time faculty, adjunct
faculty, field instructors, mentors, administrators and students — I challenge
us all to seek out and demand the best of ourselves.
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UMBC political science professor Roy T. Meyers commented in today’s Baltimore Sun story, “Leopold attorney bills taxpayers almost $21K for two weeks.” Anne Arundel County has so far been billed $20,743 by a private lawyer to defend County Executive John Leopold in a discrimination lawsuit, raising questions about who should pay the growing tab.