Created & Instructed By: John R. Sougstad, Ed.S., A.C.S.W.

E-mail: sougsta2@pilot.msu.edu

Graduate Level Social Work Students; or M.S.W. Graduates or by Permission of the Instructor

This course (SW 874) has been offered as one of three electives (SW 873, 874 and 875) students can complete in order to partially meet the State of Michigan, Department of Education requirements for "Approval" to be a "School Social Worker" as this title is defined and regulated by the Office of Special Education. The content of this course has been defined according to four core elements:

1. The professional literature has repeatedly recognized the integral place of assessment within the roles and functions of school social work services. This course will provide those interested in social work in an educational setting with some theoretical and practical knowledge about how psychological & educational testing and measurement procedures are included in problem-solving processes. Testing practices will be presented as they are embedded within the broader context of psycho-social assessment.
   
   
2. Various characteristics of particular types of measurement devices will be examined. Students will evaluate some of the strengths and weaknesses of these types of standardized measurement instruments. Emphasis will be placed on developing an understanding about how the implementation of these tools can either empower or disenfranchise the especially vulnerable, traumatized and oppressed members of our educational community as well as the larger society. Defining specific disabilities/handicaps with consideration of racial, ethnic, and socio-economic diversity will be addressed.
   
   
3. The roles and functions of school social workers continue to change within an evolving educational milieu. A multitude of political, economic, social and practical factors have increasingly demanded an emphasis on collaborating and consulting with a vast array of multidisciplinary team members within the school setting, as well as in the larger community environment. Understanding how others including school administrators, teachers, psychologists, counselors, physicians, and various therapists implement and utilize tests and measurements to make educational decisions will be presented.
   
   
4. Educational law and policy as it has been interpreted within the state of Michigan has included certain mandated roles and functions for a school social worker. Within the assessment role, those multidisciplinary teams considering whether a student requires special education services under the eligibility categories of "Severely Emotionally Impaired" as well as "Autism" must include the input of a qualified School Social Worker. This course and it's choice of text will look especially at those psychological & educational testing practices specific to these diagnostic issues. In addition, school social workers provide services to a multitude of other children with specific educational problems that include however are not limited to Specific Learning Disabilities, Mental Impairments, Physical & Other Health Impairments (ADHD), Speech & Language Disorders, Sensory Impairments including Vision & Hearing, Multiple Impairments and Traumatic Brain Injuries, at-risk students with behavioral problems and/or academic underachievement, as well as individuals from educationally deprived environments. This course will broadly overview how testing & measurement practices are involved in service delivery to these populations. In addition, with a greater emphasis upon school-to-work programs the course will briefly examine how testing and measurement practices play a role in occupational & career counseling. Lastly, the latest IDEA '97 regulations mandate the provision of Functional Behavior Assessments (FBA) and Manifestation Determinations (determining if there is a relationship between misbehavior and that of a child's diagnosed disability) that require a unique set of assessment skills and knowledge that this course will address as well.

CAUTION: This course is intended to be a broad overview of assessment issues specific to educational & psychological testing and measurement that social workers within an educational setting will likely encounter. This course does not prepare students with the necessary training and/or skills needed to administer and/or interpret any specific type of measurement tool. Typically authors and publishers of measurement devices specify the minimum qualifications necessary to utilize a particular instrument. These often include a level of educational attainment (i.e. Master Degree, Ph.D.) a specified quantity of applied experience (i.e. internships, number of supervised testing hours,...) as well as specific types of course work one should have completed (i.e. statistics, measurement & evaluation,...). Within any state such as in Michigan, the practices of psychological & educational testing are regulated by government agencies such as the State Board of Education and the Department of Commerce, Licensing & Regulations Division. Please refer to these regulatory agencies as well as instrument manuals for more detailed information.

John R. Sougstad, Ed.S., A.C.S.W. John is a Clinical Instructor and the Coordinator of the School Social Work Specialization Program in the School of Social Work at Michigan State University. He has been teaching M.S.U. courses relevant to social work in educational settings for several years while also delivering services in the Lansing School District. He has also taught courses in Special Education Administration and supervised numerous graduate students in their field placements. John is an Approved School Social Worker, a Certified School Psychologist, a Certified Clinical Social Worker, as well as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. John is currently working toward completion of a doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in School Psychology from the M.S.U. College of Education. He has a broad background in providing direct, as well as supervisory services within social service, mental health and educational agencies throughout the state of Michigan. He has provided case specific consultation services leading to the successful resolution of several legally contentious cases by working with students, their families, schools, attorneys, and other specialists. His research endeavors include family-school relationships and problem-solving, working with children who present special needs in schools, as well as organizational and systems issues in the effective delivery of special education services.

All course content is delivered to students via the Internet. The Instructor is available to provide assistance via E-mail and is available for on-campus meetings upon request. In addition the M.S.U. Virtual University Staff maintains a Toll Free Help-Line at: 1-800-500-1554 to provide students with technical assistance. Once you have enrolled in the course you will be given permission to enter the course site. Once you have entered the site you will be located at the Main Page of the course. From this location you will be able to enter all components of the course. Students will gain information and skills from their assigned readings in textbooks as well as in sites on the Internet, the Instructor's lecture notes, discussions with classmates and the Instructor, and case studies. Assigned readings will be listed for course textbooks as well as links to assigned readings you will obtain via the Internet. Course concepts are described and reinforced by reading notes posted by the Instructor. Students participate in discussions about various course concepts/issues in a manner similar to that of a classroom setting, except that students post their comments at their own convenience and read other's comments within a particular dialogue each time they enter (asynchronous). Discussions are posted within different course modules that correspond to course content and case studies.

1. Describe and discuss the historical trends in theories and applications of psychological and educational measurement instruments.
2. Describe and discuss the desirable psychometric qualities of any measurement instrument, and evaluate the relative strengths and limitations of selected measurement instruments.
3. Describe and discuss appropriate uses, as well as potential abuses of various psychological and educational measurement methods and instruments. Particular attention will be paid to various points of view about the controversies of standardized testing with traumatized, vulnerable and oppressed populations including children with limited legal recourse, persons of various disabilities, as well as racial, cultural, socio-economic and English-as-a-second-language minorities.
4. Describe and discuss how psychological and educational testing data may be integrated into school social worker's comprehensive assessments and treatment methods. Multidisciplinary collaboration utilizing various profession's test data will be emphasized.
5. Specifically describe and discuss how to conduct Functional Behavior Assessments and also provide input into Manifestation Determinations in accordance with IDEA '97 Regulations.
6. Describe, discuss and practice when, and how some specific measurement methods can be used in the assessment of "Severe Emotional Impairments," "Autism," "Mental Impairments," "Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder," and "Specific Learning Disabilities."
7. Describe and discuss some of the legal, moral, ethical and value-based issues involved in psychological and educational measurement practices in school settings.
8. Describe and discuss some of the ways technological advances are affecting current and future testing practices.

1. Introduction to the Historical, Theoretical and Statistical Foundations of Educational and Psychological Testing
2. Measurement of Developmental, Intellectual and Adaptive Functioning and the Assessment of Mental Impairments
3. Measurement of Academic Achievement Skills and the Assessment of Neuropsychological Learning Disorders
4. Measurement and Assessment of Neuropsychological Disorders continued, with additional Focus on Behavioral Disorders and Autism
5. Measurement and Assessment of Personality and Emotional Functioning
6. Integration of Testing Data in Assessments

The texts may be purchased through the MSU Bookstore, SBS Bookstore, the College Store and Ned's Bookstore; all of which are located in East Lansing, Michigan. You should call ahead to confirm that they have the books before going to the store.

For those of you located outside of this geographic area you may call these stores to have the books shipped to you using a credit card. You might also try: Amazon.com, . Or you may contact the publisher directly by telephone or by the Internet to have them shipped to you.

1. Sattler, Jerome M. (2002).  Assessment of Children: Behavioral and Clinical Applications, Fourth Edition.   San Diego, CA: Jerome M. Sattler, Publisher, Inc. http://www.sattlerpublisher.com/index.htm  (Toll-Free Phone, Seven Days a Week, 24 Hours a Day: 1-888-815-2898)  JEROME M. SATTLER, PUBLISHER, INC.  P.O. Box 3557, La Mesa, CA 91944-3557, USA  Fax: 619-460-2489
2. Taylor, Denny (1991). Learning Denied. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann (1-800-793-2154), a division of Reed Elsevier, Inc.
3. Wodrich, David L. (1997). Children's Psychological Testing for Non Psychologists, Third Edition. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing (1-800-638-3775).
4. Crone, D.A. & Horner, R.H. (2003). Building Positive Behavior Support Systems in Schools. New York: Guilford Press (1-800-365-7006).
5. Various sites on the World Wide Web will also serve as required readings for this course.

1. Five Short Quizes: For each of the first five topical units contained in the course, students will complete multiple choice quizes via the Internet. The answers to these quizes become immediately available to the students and provide opportunities to monitor one's mastery/learning of the materials in each unit.



2. Class Participation: For the first five units in the course students will participate in an on-line discussion using MSU Web-Talk. Participation on each of these unit discussions will comprise the student's class participation portion of the course grade.



3. Midterm and Final Writing Assignments: Students will submit written responses in essay form to short answer questions pertaining to course materials. No outside research is required. These writing assignments will display the student's mastery of course content.

1. Unit Quizes 30% of course grade (each quiz is worth 5% of the course grade)
2. Class Participation 25% of course grade (participation in each unit is worth 5% of the course grade)
3. Mid term Writing Assignment 20% of course grade
4. Final Writing Assignment 25% of course grade

Please refer to the information on minimum equipment requirements and registration on the Virtual University Home Page.

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