What is a School Social Worker?
School social workers work with students to support their social emotional and behavioral needs within the school setting, when there is an adverse impact on educational functioning.
Social work services in schools include the following:
Individual and small group sessions to address social-emotional needs
Preventative, classroom-based instruction to support student needs
Partnering with school and community resources to provide support within the school environment
Assisting in development of positive intervention plans and strategy implementation
Assessment through observation, standardized assessment, and interviews
Preparing a social or developmental history on a child with a disability
What do School Social Workers Do?
Providing direct services to students as indicated on their IEPs
Participating in student evaluations for special education/IEPs, 504s, and interventions
Providing individual, group, and classroom group instruction
Progress monitor services and evaluate the effectiveness of the services
Providing social-emotional learning curriculum as identified by the district, such as Second Step, Erin’s Law, suicide/depression awareness
Consultation with general and special education staff regarding social-emotional, behavioral, and academic concerns
Counseling with parents regarding student needs
Counseling as determined by the Alternatives to Suspension contracts
Implementation of Response to Intervention supports
Provision of crisis and behavioral interventions
Suicide and DCFS referrals and assessments
Referrals to and coordination with outside agencies
Identification of homeless students and provision of services for them
Development of Behavior Intervention Plans
Provide professional development as directed
Provision of short-term supports to students who do not currently receive special education services through need-specific groups (i.e. divorce or grief supports)
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What is a School Psychologist?
School psychologists are knowledgeable about child development, mental health, education, and learning. Their training allows them to provide a broad range of services within schools. Through collaboration with teachers, parents, and other professionals, school psychologists work toward meeting the individual socio-emotional and academic needs of each student. School psychologists are active participants on support teams that use a Response to Intervention (RtI) framework to identify areas of concern, collect and analyze relevant information, and develop strategies and interventions to help all students be successful.
What do School Psychologists Do?
Consultation
Collaborate with teachers, parents, administrators, and other professionals to identify students in need of support services.
Assist with effective interventions to enhance learning.
Strengthen home-school partnerships.
Evaluation
Assist in conducting school-wide screenings to identify students at risk for academic difficulties.
Evaluate students for entitlement to special education services.
Examine the impact of various factors on learning and behavior.
Prevention
Work with a team of professionals to design programs for groups of students who may be at risk for academic or behavioral difficulties.
Promote a positive learning environment by sharing knowledge of programs that will benefit all students (e.g. classroom management strategies).
Intervention
Work directly with teachers and families to design strategies to improve student performance.
Develop clear student goals and evaluate progress toward goal attainment.
Help manage crises at school related to illness, death, community trauma, or student behavior that may be dangerous.
Data-Based Decision-Making and Accountability
Use data to identify students’ strengths and needs, and to measure progress toward academic or behavioral goals.
Use multiple sources of data to define problems and inform instruction.
Observe students in a variety of settings to help make instructional recommendations.
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What is a School Counselor?
School counselors work to maximize student success, promoting access and equity for all students. As vital members of the school leadership team, school counselors create a school culture of success for all. School counselors help all students: apply academic achievement strategies, manage emotions, and apply interpersonal skills and plan for postsecondary options.
What do School Counselors Do?
Individual student academic planning and goal setting
School counseling classroom lessons based on student success standards
Short-term counseling to students
Referrals for long-term support
Collaboration with families/teachers/ administrators/ community for student success
Advocacy for students at individual education plan meetings and other student-focused meetings
Data analysis to identify student issues, needs and challenges
Acting as a systems change agent to improve equity and access, achievement and opportunities for all students