THE HISTORY OF SCHOOL SOCIAL WORK

School Social Work Enters The 21st Century 1990-PRESENT

School Social Work Responds to Change 1960-1990

*1990-NASW collaborates with Paula Allen-Meares to complete "a major survey of school social work in the U.S.A."  ("Major National, 1991, p. 9).

*1968- Costin conducted the first national study on tasks performed by school social workers.  At this time there was a great need for expansion of human services throughout the country and a limited number of social workers to fill the void.  Costin concluded that the individualistic clinical casework orientation to practice was the definition of current school social work service and that school social workers were not responding to the contemporary crisis of the school and community.  She further concluded that at the time school social workers were not paying attention to conditions that contributed to  the problems in learning and attached little importance to key roles, such as leadership and policymaking, necessary for more macro-level intervention. *1973- Research conducted by Alderson and Krishef found that school social workers had an increased willingness to assuem leadership roles and that casework actitity was rated lower. *1975- P. L. 94-142, Education for All Handicapped Children enacted, now known as "IDEA" Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. *1977- Allen-Meares replicated the Costin (1968) study and found that a shift had occurred since this effort.  The focus of service included individual counseling with a

*1992-NASW begins offering School Social Work Specialist Credential (McCullagh, 2001).

*1993-National Coalition for School Social Work forms (McCullagh, 2001).

*1994-School Social Work included in major legislation--Goals 2000: Educate America Act (Constable et al., 1999).

*1997-School Social Work Association of America collaborates with NASW to enhance the school social work specialty (McCullagh, 2001).

*2000-NASW begins the School Social Work Specialist Certification (McCullagh, 2001).

REFERENCES

Allen-Meares, P.  Elementary and secondary school improvement amendments of 1988 and the future of social services in schools. Social Work in Education, 12(4), 249-261.

Constable,d R., McDonald, S.C., & Flynn, J. (1999). School Social Work: Practice, policy, & research perspectives (4th Ed.). Chicago, IL: Lyceum Books.

child and his or her family around educational issues.  The school social worker's major role was being a home-school-community liason. *1982- Timberlake, Sabatino, and Hooper explored the impact of P.L. 94-142 on school social work delivery and found more emphasis on consultation and short-term counseling and on diagnostic assessment on behalf of handicapped populations. *1985- NASW's report The Human Factor, in the wake of educational reform following the 1983 Nation at Risk report,  recommended strengthening the linkage between school, home, and community; increasing parental involvement; emphasizing early intervention and prevention; developing methods to promote positive student images; and developing alternative discipline policies and programs. *1988- P.L. 100-297, Hawkins-Stafford Elementary and Secondary School Improvement Amendments enacted recognizing the importance of family involvement in education, effective education, prevention, and partnerships with other services in the community.

Major national school social work survey completed.  (1991).  School Social Work Information Bulletin, pp. 9-11.

McCullagh, J. G.  (2001).  Journal of School Social Work, 12 (1), 5-30.