As a social worker it is important to engage in policy practice. It is a part of the profession, whether you like it or not. It is an aspect that can change the way things are done for clients in a good way or bad. If you want to be more affective in practice, advocating for policies is one way of making sure your clients receive what they deserve. Chapin (2011) talks about how as a social worker you cannot take on every social policy issue, but it is important to consider the policies that affect your client population.
In light of Chapin (2011) my client population is students in an alternative school, ages 17-20. The current policy that will affect them most in their school career is the Common Core State Standards. This is a policy that puts in place educational standards (Florida Department of Education) that will be universal, hopefully in all states. After each state adopts the standards they can then base their curriculum on the standards (Florida Department of Education). This will help to make schools be on the same level academically and will hopefully increase the graduation rate.
As I mentioned, the population impacted by this policy is any school-aged child. One could also say that the population of educators will be affected as well. This policy will benefit students in any school and from any background. Through having standards across all states, if a student transfers to a new school the standards should be the same. As of now, a student could move and either is way ahead of the new school or way behind. This shouldn’t be happening; the standard for every grade should be the same to where you could go to any school and they are learning the same things.
Coalition members would be the Florida Department of ...
... middle of paper ...
...things the way they are so there is no hassle.
Lastly, as with most policies there is funding to think about. Is it going to be feasible to put this policy into place? It is important to look at a cost benefit analysis to see if the benefits outweigh the costs. Advocating for the appropriations committee to pass this policy through to be funded and put into place in the schools statewide.
Works Cited
Chapin, K. Rosemary. (2011). Social Policy for Effective Practice: A Strengths Approach.
New York: Routledge.
Common Core Standards, H. 377, Regular Sess. (2013).
Common Core State Standards. (n.d.). Common Core State Standards. Retrieved November 18,
2013, from http://www.cpalms.org/Standards/Common_Core_Standards.aspx
Florida Department of Education. (n.d.). Florida Public Schools. Retrieved November 18, 2013, from https://www.fldoe.org/schools/ccc.asp
Even with the negative and positive functions of No Child Left Behind, there are many areas that still need to ironed out. Under the Obama administration several states have received a waiver from No Child Left Behind, “with this waiver students will still be tested annually. But starting this fall, schools in those states will no longer face the same prescriptive actions spelled out under No Child Left Behind” (Feller & Hefling, 2012). Since 2007, the law has been up for review, but due to opponents of the law there has not been an agreement reached and the law continues to stress our schools and children out. We can only hope that when this law is reviewed and agreed upon that it really is in the best interest of our children and the nation as a whole.
The implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act applied a market approach to school reform as a way of improving the school system. This new law promised an era of high standards, testing, and accountability in
My perspective on the decision on the policy is that it lacks careful thinking by the law-makers. If students perform different, why use just one variable to test them. It’s like hoping that you are going to produce all children that are exactly the same quality. Or a school can be an excellent school but is seen as not making adequate annual progress under the provisions of “No Child Left
The proposed Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act identifies key factors for college and career-ready students. The act asks that states adopt rigorous college and career ready standards in English/language arts and mathematics along with assessments aligned to these standards. In June of 2010, the NGA Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) released the Common Core State Standards which 45 out of 50 states have currently adopted. Additionally, states are required to develop a system of accountability that rewards successful schools, requires interventions for the lowest-perfor...
In order to determine whether or not the No Child Left Behind Act is doing its job successfully and efficiently, one must first understand exactly what is involved in the act. This act is the most recent renewal of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Similar to laws in the past, this particular act has been revised and added to numerous times to make sure it encompasses everything necessary for the education system and the students. The No Child Left B...
Through reading this paper you will learn about the key points from the article, A Social Worker’s Reflection on Power, Privilege, and Oppression written by Michael S. Spencer and the article White Privilege: Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh. Then the paper will include my personal beliefs on the topic of privilege and even some of my own personal privilege that are in my knapsack and that have helped me along my way in life. Finally, There will also be a point in the paper where I will have the ability to informed you about how privilege affect people and how they can positively affect people who do not receive them. Privileges impacts many groups of people in many different ways. They can be effected by
Most educators and parents would desire an educational system where all students receive a balanced education that will afford all students the ability to compete in our ever changing society. This desire is great among students who live in economically challenged environments and those who attend poor schools. These students are at most risk of receiving a a proper education. This is partly due to lack of funding, and the inability for those poor schools to afford highly qualified teachers. Much controversy stems from this issue, poor schools not being able to afford highly trained teachers, students not having access to improved curriculums and extraordinary dropout rates. In an effort to combat these issues, the Bush administration implemented an act that purported to help schools to receive necessary funding for qualified teachers and to close the racial and ethnic gaps, known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA). However, the NCLBA failed to deliver on its promises and left already struggling schools and children in disarray attempting to reach government mandates rather than ensuring a balanced education for every student.
Social justice is a core value in the social work field. We define social justice as, “all citizens would possess equal fundamental rights, protection, opportunities, obligations and social benefits (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2015, p. 29). Unfortunately, we understand there are many members in today’s society that are not receiving social justice. Some may not want help and believe that s/he is able to do it on their own and then there are the individuals that we may not know about that could really use our help. Our jobs as social workers is to help those who need help no matter if they are rich, poor, disabled, white, Hispanic, it does not matter because everyone should be treated equally. As NASW states, “The original mission of social work had much to do with championing the rights of society’s most vulnerable members, from children to homeless people to the physically disabled” (NASW: National Association of Social Workers, 2015, para. 1).
As students in a Structure & Philosophy class, one of the main components has been to introduce and familiarize us with the No Child Left Behind Act. President Bush passed this legislation on January 8, 2002. The NCLB Act was designed to ensure each and every student the right to a fair education, to give parents more options in their child’s education, and to guarantee all teachers are highly qualified. By highly qualified, the act means teachers must have at least a bachelor’s degree, have full state certification or licensure, and have demonstrated competence in their subject areas (US Dept. of Education).
I first became interested in social work when I took a human rights course as part of my political science major requirements. Throughout the course, I was fascinated and disturbed by the historic oppression of many large groups in society, and I realized my interests lie outside of the political arena; thus, I double-majored in social policy & practice because of my desire to learn more about how to enhance human well-being, fight social injustice, and pursue social change. I soon realized I wanted to pursue graduate social work education in order to gain a more holistic understanding of social problems and human ailments and, in turn, better understand the best ways to fix them. My background in political science and social policy gives me a unique perspective on the field of social work, as I have gained immense knowledge on social issues, the law, and public policy that will be useful in my graduate school and professional endeavors to fight for social justice and human rights.
Social workers can help ensure that if passed, the policy is actually being implemented and rights are not being
By practicing social advocacy and supporting change we have the opportunity to influence social policy, especially within our government and help promote equality, social justice, and ultimately end social injustice. Advocacy gives people the opportunity to learn and become more aware of their own rights and the opportunity to exercise those rights and have a voice on decision that concern their lives.
When they are in need we must do everything in our power to make a change. Sometimes this involve advocating for them to see a change in social problems. The definition of a social worker states that they are trained person that carries out work with the aim of alleviating conditions of those in need (12). This often calls the need for social justice. After learning about social workers throughout history, I realize there’s multiple ways to help those in need (11). They’ve been able to implement social welfare for the public.
Policy implications are evident in professional practice at all social system levels. Systematically, decisions are made that affect empowerment in both the subsystem structures and the suprasystem structures. This reciprocity means that social workers influence welfare policies and, in turn, public social policies influence social workers’ practice of their profession (Dubois & Miley, 2014).
Social problems, including delinquency, disability, unemployment, palliative care, social disadvantages, such as gender, poverty race sexual orientation and the range of collective social responses to these conditions. Social care workers strive to support, protect, guide and advocate on behalf of clients. Social Polices affect these clients in a number of ways. They determine the types of social services that exist, the way they are run, and the access of individuals and communities to services and benefits. The advocacy of social workers is important in influencing the policies of organizations, local authorities and services. (Hepworth and Larson,