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Education in School Social Work

Schools of Social Work

By Peter Craig

Although the national COVID lockdown of 2020-2023 may have ended up doing more harm than good, it did help highlight the value of school social workers. The lockdown—where children were cooped up at home, getting a spotty education online and relying on impersonal, sometimes destructive social media as an outlet—sparked or exacerbated mental health problems for many kids, experts say.

teacher with classroom of studentsAnd now “there is an increased demand for school social workers who are also clinically trained to provide mental health services in schools,” says Ellen Smith, MSSW, clinical professor, Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Unfortunately, just as this is happening, she adds, related federal grants are being cut, including one at Sandra Rosenbaum that supported licensure training for MSW students.


Duties and Skills Galore

At UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, the School Social Work Program has practicum partnerships all over the Los Angeles area, says program Co-director Hector Palencia–Photo courtesy of UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs At UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, the School Social Work Program has practicum partnerships all over the Los Angeles area, says program Co-director Hector Palencia. Photo courtesy of UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs

Both in getting a degree and in pursuing state licensure, school social work students have a lot to learn, about handling children’s and youths’ behavioral problems, dealing with parents, tracking truancy (which has taken up more and more time post-COVID), helping out with special education and knowing related law, conducting group sessions on drug abuse and other subjects, accessing resources like food and housing, attending 504 and IEP (Individual Education Program) meetings, doing bio-psycho-social assessments, crisis counseling and safety planning.

School social work students will also learn all about the roles of school administrators, teachers, coaches, physical therapists, occupational therapists and school counselors, and how to work with them. For instance, at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville College of Social Work, the MSW “School Social Work” course includes a “lesson on how to engage with teachers to help them with [students’] behavioral issues,” says Dr. Robert Lucio, associate professor and online program director.

“Even the most troubled kid wants to be a success at something,” says ex-high school teacher Hector Palencia, MSW, MA, LCSW, who is now a practicum faculty member and co-director of the School Social Work/PPSC (Pupil Personnel Services Credential) Program at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs. “So if [students] can’t find success in the academic world, how can we help them use the skills and abilities they do have in a positive way?”

Co-presenting “How to Advocate on Controversial Issues (without Losing your Job!)” at November 2024’s Midwest School Social Work Conference in Milwaukee: the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Jenny Braunginn (left) and retired Wisconsin Department of Instruction education consultant Nic Dibble. Co-presenting “How to Advocate on Controversial Issues (without Losing your Job!)” at November 2024’s Midwest School Social Work Conference in Milwaukee: the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Jenny Braunginn (left) and retired Wisconsin Department of Instruction education consultant Nic Dibble.

School social work is unique, “because you’re getting that micro and that mezzo piece kind of at the same time,” says clinical assistant professor Jacquelyn Garcia, LCSW, practicum education director and school social work licensure coordinator, School of Social Work, College of Health & Human Services, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. “School social workers are working directly with students, but they also have a really strong role in advocating for students in the community space and making sure there is access to necessary resources.”


Following Rules

If a university or college doesn’t have a formal concentration or specialization in school social work at the MSW level, it may offer a course on the subject along with related electives—such as on children and families or education—as well as practicum. And to help explain the ground rules for school social work, social work programs often use material from social work associations.

For example, in the MSW school social work class Palencia teaches at UCLA, he reminds students to always keep NASW’s Code of Ethics front of mind, “especially when we’re working with a vulnerable population, children being the most vulnerable.”

And school social work courses, along with state licensure departments, have been drawing on both NASW’s “Practice Standards for School Social Workers” and the School Social Work Association of America’s “National School Social Work Practice Model 2.0.” “The new practice model is helping social workers clearly define not only what our roles are in schools, but also our training and our skills, and how they may differ from regular social work,” says Jenny Braunginn, MSSW, CISW, senior teaching faculty II and post-MSW school social work project manager for the University of Wisconsin-Madison social work program.


Meanwhile, Out in the Field

During a school social work internship in fall 2024, University of North Carolina at Charlotte MSW student Mariam Sheriff (in white sweater with raised hands) helps first-graders participate in a traditional African dance at Charlotte’s Parkside Elementary School Mariam Sheriff prepares to check in Parkside students for free eye exams and glassesDuring a school social work internship in fall 2024, University of North Carolina at Charlotte MSW student Mariam Sheriff (in white sweater with raised hands) helps first-graders participate in a traditional African dance at Charlotte’s Parkside Elementary School (left), and in spring 2025, she prepares to check in Parkside students for free eye exams and glasses (right).

For her “School Social Work Licensure” course at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, recent MSW student Mariam Sheriff did her second-year internship at Parkside Elementary School in Charlotte. Among other regular tasks, she shadowed the school social worker, assisted with home visits and food deliveries, and helped with absenteeism reports and with trying to remove barriers to regular attendance.

Sheriff came to love the rapid pace and all of the multitasking. She would also translate for Spanish-speaking parents (she’s Dominican), fill in at the front desk, answer phones, be in classrooms when teachers needed some support—anything that came up.

“Those are the kinds of things that can go unnoticed,” Sheriff says. “But school social workers definitely help make the school run a lot smoother.”


School Social Work Research: More to Know

Research is percolating in school social work education. Current areas of interest include the new “National School Social Work Practice Model 2.0,” just released by the School Social Work Association of America, which is informing school social work education, state licensure and practice.

One such study is being conducted by Jenny Braunginn, MSSW, CISW, senior teaching faculty II and post-MSW school social work project manager, Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Nic Dibble, LSSW, CISW, retired education consultant, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Deforest, Wis.; Dr. Robert Lucio, associate professor and online program director, College of Social Work, University of Tennessee-Knoxville; Dr. Brandon D. Mitchell, assistant professor, Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social Work, Norfolk State University; and Emilie Souhrada, LISW, school social worker, Central Rivers Area Education Agency, Cedar Falls, Iowa.

The study is focusing on the various roles of school social workers as laid out in the new practice model and how closely they match roles in actual practice, says Braunginn. Adds Lucio, “Basically we’re just looking at all the studies in the last five years and then mapping them to the model to compare what they said.”

person studying On another front, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte School of Social Work got a grant from the state Department of Public Instruction to increase diversity among the students in its school social work program. “We were able to supply stipends to students and reimbursements for class costs to school professionals who were re-specializing as school social workers,” says clinical assistant professor Jacquelyn Garcia, LCSW, who’s also practicum education director and school social work licensure coordinator.

Unfortunately, over the past couple years the university’s partner—Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district—lost its federal COVID funding and with it several school social worker positions, says Garcia. “So we’ve run into this continual issue where we increase the interest [in school social work] and then there are no positions available.”

Following are samples of published research material related to school social work:



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