Preparing to meet competency andaccreditation standards in the US:

Perspectives of a social work program administrator

July, 2015

Emiko A. Tajima, PhD University of Washington

Disclaimer

• Focus on CSWE (Council on Social Work Education), the accrediting body for the US

• I am not a CSWE commissioner or staff member• I offer my own understanding of EPAS• From perspective of a social work program

administrator (UW School of Social Work)• For questions about your own accreditation, please

refer to your school’s accreditation specialist

COMPETENCIES IN SOCIAL WORK

• Shift in social work education to be competency-based

• Required core competencies, not required content areas for SW curriculum

• Shift in focus from inputs (what we teach) to outcomes (what graduates are prepared to do in practice)

• Programs evaluate outcomes and use findings to inform curriculum revision

2015 EDUCATIONAL POLICY AND ACCREDITATION STANDARDS (EPAS)

EPAS 2015 just approved by CSWE

Includes 9 core competencies and related practice behaviors

Changes from 2008 EPAS

SESSION OBJECTIVES:

Review 2015 EPAS and core competencies

Discuss major domains that (CSWE) accreditation requires

Discuss how programs prepare for accreditation (especially re-accreditation)

Share ideas for assessing student outcomes

Other interests?

COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION

Competencies guide Curriculum design

Curriculum should offer learning opportunities

(in classroom and field education)

Programs assess student learning outcomes (evidence)

Accreditation standards use measures of student competency to evaluate the program overall, not to decide who may graduate

COMPETENCIES ARE:

Knowledge, Values, & Skills

Also cognitive and affective processes

Holistic

Multidimensional

Composed of interrelated competencies

Developmental

Dynamic

Show integration and application in practice

CSWE EPAS 2015

Competency 1–Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior

Competency 2 –Engage Diversity and Difference in Practice

Competency 3 –Advance Human Rights and Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice

Competency 4 –Engage In Practice-informed Research and Research-informed Practice

Competency 5 –Engage in Policy Practice

CSWE EPAS 2015

Competency 6 –Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Competency 7 –Assess Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Competency 8 –Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Competency 9 –Evaluate Practice with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

PROGRAM ASSESSMENT BACKGROUND

Using multiple measures of program outcomes is important (Meyer-Adams, et al., 2011)

CSWE / EPAS currently requires multiple sources of data to assess competency (typically Field, Classroom, and / or Student)

CSWE / EPAS (2015) has new assessment requirements: e.g., requires at least one measure of student outcomes in actual or simulated practice settings; requires assessment on ‘implicit curriculum’ (the overall learning environment)

Need more research on competency assessment in social work education to evaluate the validity of measures (e.g., Bogo et al., 2012)

ACCREDITATION REQUIREMENT DOMAINS

Statement of program mission & goals

Explicit curriculum Generalist Foundation and Specialized Practice

Field Education as Signature Pedagogy

Implicit CurriculumDiversity

Student Development (admissions, advising, retention, termination, student participation); Faculty (ratio to student= 1:25 BASW, 1:12 MSW);

Administrative and Governance Structure

Resources

Assessment

ASSESSING STUDENT OUTCOMES

Examples of measures of student mastery of competency?

• Student self-assessments

• Field education supervisor ratings

• Classroom instructor ratings

• Standardized testing (licensure-type of question)

• Objective Standardized Clinical Examinations (OSCEs)

• ‘Capstone’ Portfolio reviews

• Exit Interviews

Assessment ofCompetencies

UW SSW Competencies

& Practice Behaviors

Student Self-assessment

Field Assessment

Classroom Assessment

MSW Foundation Year or BASW Exit

Survey

MSW Advanced Year Survey

Instructor Ratings

FI Quarterly Evaluations

EPAS Core Competencies SocW500

SocW501

SocW 504

SocW 505

SocW510

SocW 511

SocW512

SocW513

1: Identify as a professional social worker and conduct oneself accordingly. (7 items)

X

(e)

X

(a, b, c)

X

(f, g)

X

(d)

X

2: Apply social work ethical principles to guide professional practice. (5 items)

X

(a, b)

X

X

X

(c, e)

X

X

(d)

3: Apply critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgments. (9 items)

X

(a)

X

(b, c, d, e)

X

X

(f, i)

X

(g)

X

(h)

X

4: Engage diversity and difference in practice. (4 items)

X

X

(a, b, d)

X

X

X

(c)

5: Advance human rights and social and economic justice. (2 items)

X

X

(a)

X

(b)

X X

X

6: Engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed research. (5 items)

X

X

(a, b, c, d, e)

7: Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment. (2 items)

X

X

X

(a)

X

(b)8: Engage in policy practice to advance social and economic well-being and to deliver effective social work services. (3 items)

X

(a, b)

X

X

X

(c)

9: Respond to contexts that shape practice. (3 items) X

(c)

X

(a)

X

(b)

X

10: Engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. (15 items)

X

(g)

X

(a, k, m, n)

X

(b, d, e, f)

X

(h, i, l)

X

(c, j, o)

MSW Foundation course coverage of Competencies–classroom measures in parentheses

RATING SCALE FOR INSTRUCTORS

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT COMPETENCY

What outcome measures are best for your program?

How best to evaluate the validity of competency measures?

Should we measure from developmental perspective – change through the program (e.g., in Field evaluations)

Are we assessing at individual level or program level? Comparison by subgroups of students / by cohorts

How to measure the ‘implicit curriculum?

What else do we want to measure with regard to student learning and program effectiveness?