During a modern era of rising white nationalism and racial reckoning, the opportunity to reimagine the national model for school social work practice was explored in partnership with practitioners, scholars, researchers, and leaders of the profession. It sparked a parallel process of engagement that required the critical analysis of the systemic…

Telementoring is a low-cost, flexible way for school mental health professionals to access professional learning. Using a mixed-methods intervention design, we examined the impact of prolonged telementoring on school mental health professionals' (school counselors, psychologists, social workers, and others) understanding and application of…

Central American youth constitute one of the largest groups of newcomers in U.S. public schools, particularly in urban areas. Many have experienced traumatic events and interrupted or limited formal education. These factors, coupled with cultural and language differences, may lead these youth to struggle in public schools, unless specifically…

In this conceptual article, the authors identify the current state of racial disproportionality in U.S. public schools and the ethical call for school social workers to engage in anti-racist practice. Using the ecosystems perspective, a familiar perspective for school social work, the authors present a model for addressing racial climate gaps for…

The article provides a global picture of school social work in 2021 using data gathered by the International Network for School Social Work. School social work is a growing specialty around the world. There are school social workers practicing in more than 50 countries. School social workers support students' educational success, especially those…

This US-based study examined the experiences of school counselors and social workers implementing a systems-oriented, programmatic student support practice model, City Connects, within high-need urban contexts. The City Connects model represents current best practices in student support, positioning school counselors and social workers primarily…

The history of school social work in the United States is nearly as old as the history of public education. Despite the presence of social workers in schools throughout this time, the profession has generally been established within schools through confluence of interests with broader social and educational movements or policy windows. These…

The authors begin this article by highlighting clinical social casework as a historic trend in school social work practice. They then identify two major shifts in current education policy related to school social work practice. One shift is an emphasis on a multilevel intervention approach, and the other is the differentiation between academic and…

Community schools have recently (re)emerged in the United States as a vital, comprehensive strategy for addressing poverty-related barriers to children's school learning. However, not all low-income school communities are endowed with the resources needed to launch a comprehensive array of school-based/linked services and programs. In this…

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…

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…

This article focuses on primary school children's experiences of school-based social work programmes. These students, aged between 6 and 11, and drawn from a student population comprising 28 different cultural backgrounds and from low socio-economic backgrounds, participated in a case study that researched a school-based social work programme, the…

School social work interventions that address social and emotional learning are often confined to micro-level practice. Yet the social work profession thrives on multilevel practice in all settings (micro, as well as macro). School social workers can play a pivotal role in engaging youth to become prosocial participants of their school and…

This study is a secondary analysis of surveys collected from school social workers in Illinois. Workers were originally surveyed about the most important student problems they confront in their schools and their preferred targets of intervention (individual, small group, family) to address those problems. Drawing on related conceptual work, the…

This researcher addresses whether transition planning with classified special education students is being implemented in accordance with the Kohler model for successful transition planning. Using archival data available from two high schools, one with a specialized on campus program and the latter as an excluded site specializing in classified…