Standards

National Association of Social Work's (NASW) Standards for School Social Work Practice

1. Standard 1. A school social worker shall demonstrate commitment to the values and ethics of the social work profession and shall use NASW's Code of Ethics as a guide to ethical decision making.
   
2. Standard 2. School social workers shall organize their time, energies, and workloads to fulfill their responsibilities and complete assignments of their position, with due consideration of the priorities among their various responsibilities.
   
3. Standard 3. School social workers shall provide consultati9n to local education agency personnel, school board members, and community representatives to promote understanding and effective utilization of school social work services.
   
4. Standard 4. School social workers shall ensure that students and their families are provided services within the context of multicultural understanding and competence that enhance families' support of students' learning experiences.
   
5. Standard 5. School social work services shall be extended to students in ways that build students' individual strengths and offer students maximum opportunity to participate in the planning and direction of their own learning experience.
   
6. Standard 6. School social workers shall help empower students and their families to gain access to and effectively use formal and informal community resources.
   
7. Standard 7. School social workers shall maintain adequate safeguards for the privacy and confidentiality of information.
   
8. Standard 8. School social workers shall advocate for students and their families in a variety of situations.
   
9. Standard 9. As leaders and members of interdisciplinary teams and coalitions school social , workers shall work collaboratively to mobilize the resources of local education agencies and communities to meet the needs of students and families.
   
10. Standard 10. School social workers shall develop and provide training and educational programs that address the goals and mission of the educational institution.
    
11. Standard 11. School social workers shall maintain accurate data that are relevant to planning, management, and evaluation of school social work services.
    
12. Standard 12. School social workers shall conduct assessments of student needs that are individualized and provide information that is directly useful for designing interventions that address behaviors of concern.
    
13. Standard 13. School social workers shall incorporate assessments in developing and implementing intervention and evaluation plans that enhance student$' abilities to benefit from educational experiences.
    
14. Standard 14. School social workers, as systems change agents, shall identify areas of need that are not being addressed by the local education agency and community and shall work to create services that address these needs.
    
15. Standard 15. School social workers shall be trained in and use mediation and conflictresolution strategies to promote students' resolution of their nonproductive encounters in the school and community and to promote productive relationships.
    
16. Standard 16. School social workers shall meet the provisions for practice set by NASW.
    
17. Standard 17. School social workers shall possess knowledge and understanding basic to the social work profession.
    
18. Standard 18. School social workers shall understand the backgrounds and broad range of experiences that shape students' approaches to learning.
    
19. Standard 19. School social workers shall possess knowledge and understanding of the organization and structure of the local education agency (school district).
    
20. Standard 20. School social workers shall possess knowledge and understanding of the reciprocal influences of home, school, and community.
    
21. Standard 21. School social workers shall possess skills in systematic assessment and investigation.
    
22. Standard 22. School social workers shall understand the relationship between practice and policies affecting students.
    
23. Standard 23. School social workers shall be able to select and apply empirically validated or promising prevention and intervention methods to enhance students' educational experiences.
    
24. Standard 24. School social workers shall be able to evaluate their practice and disseminate the findings to consumers, the local education agency, the community, and the profession.
    
25. Standard 25. School social workers shall possess skills in developing coalitions at the local, state, and national levels that promote student success.
    
26. Standard 26. School social workers shall be able to promote collaboration among community health and mental health services providers and facilitate student access to these services.
    
27. Standard 27. School social workers shall assume responsibility for their own continued professional development in accordance with the NASW Standards for Continuing Professional Education * and state requirements.
    
28. Standard 28. School social workers shall contribute to the development of the profession by educating and supervising school social work interns.