Andy Frey

Student Perceptions of Web-Assisted Teaching Strategies

This study determines which Web-assisted teaching strategies social work students from a single university experience and perceive as valuable. The results demonstrate that most faculty use email, post grades online, and give out student email addresses to the class. Students perceive email communication with the instructor and the online provision of course information as the most valuable strategies. The impact of several student characteristics on value perception is also examined, revealing varying levels of influence. These findings suggest that the strategies students report as the most valuable are not necessarily the strategies most frequently used by faculty.

School Social Work

The oldest of its kind in the South, Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Social Work was established in 1917 as the Richmond School of Social Economy. Later renamed the School of Social Work and Public Health, it became the first unit of Richmond Professional Institute. The school was created initially in response to community needs in working with World War I veterans and their social and health problems. Subsequent development of the school has expanded activity into all areas of human service.

Predictors of Placement Recommendations for Children with Behavioral or Emotional Disorders.

This study investigated the relationship among teacher efficacy, child socioeconomic status (SES), child ethnicity, and educational placement recommendations concerning children with behavioral or emotional disorders (E/BD). For the study, 350 special education teachers were randomly selected from 10 school districts in the Denver metropolitan area. Participants completed the Expanded Teacher Efficacy Scale to measure Classroom Management/Discipline, External Influences, and Personal Teaching Efficacy. Participants also completed the Educational Placement Vignette. After reading the descriptive case study of a fourth grade boy identified as having E/BD, special educators indicated the placement option they would recommend for the student. Vignettes were identical except for variations regarding the childs SES and ethnicity. Results suggest that Classroom Management/Discipline, External Influences, and child SES are significant predictors of special education teachers’ placement recommendations. Knowledge acquired through this investigation provides a foundation for a theory concerning how educational placement decisions are determined. Recommendations are made for using the knowledge to reduce placement rates in restrictive environments, and suggestions are provided to advance the theory regarding how placement decisions are made.

The effects of web‐assisted instruction in a social work research methods course

The objective of this paper is to report on the outcome evaluation of web‐assisted graduate foundation research courses in the summer research sequence of Kent School of Social Work, University of Louisville. The quasi‐experimental pretest/posttest comparison‐group design was used to test the hypothesis that students that unknowingly sign up for traditional or web‐assisted courses would acquire knowledge at equal rates, but that the students in the web‐assisted courses would report higher levels of course satisfaction. Although the actual content knowledge gain was better for the students in the traditional course, the two groups did not differ in their research knowledge at the end of the course. There was also a significant amount of knowledge increase for the experimental group, and a higher level of satisfaction in perceived knowledge gain. The students in the web‐assisted courses showed a significantly higher level of overall satisfaction with the course. In conclusion it was found that the benefits of using web‐assisted techniques are maintained even when strategies are used in courses that have not been advertised as web‐assisted, hence eliminating selection effects. The study further indicates that web‐assisted courses are just as effective as traditional courses in transferring knowledge to students. An important benefit of web‐assisted technology is that course‐satisfaction can be enhanced due to the effective path that technology provides to meet the needs of students.

Meeting the social and behavioral health needs of students: rethinking the relationship between teachers and school social workers.

BACKGROUND While school-based mental health professionals obviously must provide mental health services to students directly, the literature is increasingly identifying an empowerment role for these professionals, whereby they support teachers as primary service providers. The purpose of this study was to identify subtypes of school social workers within the context of collaborative practice, and to identify individual and contextual factors associated with these classifications as well as overall levels of collaboration. METHODS Latent class analysis, conducted using data collected as part of the National School Social Work Survey 2008 (N = 1639), was employed to examine underlying subtypes of school social work practitioners in relation to collaborative practices and to examine predictors of collaborative practice. RESULTS Four broad categories of school social workers were identified, including (1) noncollaborators, (2) system-level specialists, (3) consultants, and (4) well-balanced collaborators. These classes were associated with the number of schools served, grade level, education, and clinical licensure status; level of administrative responsibility was not associated with class membership. CONCLUSION While school social workers varied in collaborative practices, opportunities exist to enhance their role in educating and supporting teachers to serve as primary providers to students with social, mental health, and behavioral needs. The implications for school-based mental health providers, teachers, administrators, policymakers, and researchers are discussed.

Child Care Subsidy and Program Quality Revisited

Research Findings: Previous research has documented conflicting results on the relationship between program quality and the percentage of children receiving subsidized child care (subsidy density) in early childhood centers. This research examined the relationship between subsidy density and the quality of infant and preschool classrooms in child care centers, taking into consideration teacher education and salary as well as other structural variables associated with quality. A multimethod evaluation was conducted with 110 child care centers utilizing an interview of center directors as well as classroom observations using standardized measures of quality and language/literacy in the classroom. Regression analyses indicate that subsidy density does not predict the quality of infant classrooms. However, subsidy density is a significant predictor of the quality of preschool classrooms. Teacher education is predictive of some quality indicators, but teacher salary is not. Practice or Policy: Practice and policy implications are discussed to promote the quality of child care centers that serve low- income children. Statewide initiatives should target centers with higher subsidy density for quality improvements. Local programs and state policy should provide teachers with opportunities to obtain additional education and then offer incentives to remain in their current early childhood settings.

The Efficacy of a Home-School Intervention for Preschoolers with Challenging Behaviors: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Preschool First Step to Success.

The field of early intervention is currently faced with the challenge of reducing the prevalence of antisocial behavior in children. Longitudinal outcomes research indicates that increased antisocial behavior and impairments in social competence skills during the preschool years often serve as harbingers of future adjustment problems in a number of domains including mental health, interpersonal relations, and academic achievement. This article reports the results of a cross-site randomized controlled trial, in which 128 preschool children with challenging behaviors were assigned to either a Preschool First Step to Success (PFS) intervention (i.e., experimental) or a usual-care (i.e., control) group. Regression analyses indicated that children assigned to the Preschool First Step intervention had significantly higher social skills, and significantly fewer behavior problems, across a variety of teacher- and parent-reported measures at postintervention. Effect sizes for teacher-reported effects ranged from medium to large across a variety of social competency indicators; effect sizes for parent-reported social skills and problem behaviors were small to medium, respectively. These results suggest that the preschool adaptation of the First Step intervention program provides early intervention participants, staff, and professionals with a viable intervention option to address emerging antisocial behavior and externalizing behavior disorders prior to school entry.

Drama in the Academy Bringing Racism to Light

The effort of our School of Social Work’s Diversity Committee to create an engaging presentation/performance focusing on the social issue of racism to our faculty and staff colleagues is described in this article. Our journey to develop two specific performances is outlined, along with descriptions of each and the audience reactions. As we reflected on our experiences with these performances, we recognized the value of using non-traditional forms of presentations in the academic setting to create a meaningful experience that would be most engaging with our academic colleagues. Developing these performances, enacting them, and receiving critical feedback on those performances emboldened us to develop additional performances (rather than traditional formal presentations) in our academic setting.

Utilizing a Positive Behavior Support Approach to Achieve Integrated Mental Health Services

ABSTRACT Although experts in early childhood mental health services make clear the need to infuse mental health services into all program components, many have suggested that the mental health services in the majority of Head Start programs are narrowly focused and that mental health consultants are often used in limited ways (see D. J. Cohen, Solnit, & Wohlford, 1997; E. Cohen & Kauffman, 2000; Forness et al., 2000; Green, Simpson, Everhart, Vale, & Gettman, 2004; Knitzer, 1993, 1996; Yoshikawa & Knitzer, 1997; Yoshikawa & Zigler, 2000). This article demonstrates how one Head Start program has begun to utilize the technology of Positive Behavior Support to develop an integrated model of mental health consultation services.

Transporting Motivational Interviewing to School Settings to Improve the Engagement and Fidelity of Tier 2 Interventions

The majority of Tier 2 interventions are facilitated by specialized instructional support personnel, such as a school psychologists, school social workers, school counselors, or behavior consultants. Many professionals struggle to involve parents and teachers in Tier 2 behavior interventions. However, attention to the motivational issues for influencing parents and teachers’ decisions to participate or implement the intervention as it was intended are often missing. In this article, the authors describe their efforts to infuse motivational interviewing into a well-established Tier 2 intervention, First Step to Success. Specifically, they summarize the iterative process that they followed in order to develop this integrated model and the methods and results found in training coaches to implement it. Implications for practice and research are also discussed.