Critical Issues in Social Work Education.
Abstract The following critical issues facing social work education are reviewed: lack of an instructional methodology, effectiveness of practice, admissions to social work education programs, theories of people, assessment of competence, and generic curriculum. Possible avenues to effective education for practice are elaborated: relationship-building training, empirical bases of interpersonal helping, degree correspondence, and research on the instructional process. Where relevant, prototypes of effective training procedures and requisites are discussed briefly.
The Validity of Admissions Predictions: Implications for Social Work Education
Abstract This study of the validity of admissions predictions made by the full-time faculty of a school of social work showed some capacity of the faculty to predict classroom performance, but no ability to predict field performance. Interjudge reliability for the group was low, with an overall reliability coefficient of .47. Nearly half the faculty could significantly predict classroom performance, however, there was a strong tendency toward negative correlation between admissions ratings and field performance, particularly by field instruction faculty. The pooled judgments of three faculty raters were shown not to have any significant advantage over average individual judgments in validity terms.
Research on the outcome of social work therapeutic interventions: a review of the literature.
Questions associated with developing a therapeutic technology are considered. A review of the research concerning the outcome of social work treatment is presented with respect to two client populations. Diflerences in types of treatment employed with each population are considered. Finally, given the population and the type of therapeutic intervention, issues are raised and evaluations made about the adequacy of outcome research in the particular area of interest. THE standard review-of-outcome research (Eysenck, 1952, 1961, 1965) has tended to approach the literature methodologically-i.e., by considering various studies in terms of the validity of inferences that might be drawn on the basis of the results they present. Methodologically speaking, two points are pertinent to therapeutic interventions in social work (more specifically, with respect to the given types of therapeutic interventions with the specific client populations delineated below). The