As School Social Workers, we often do not fit into typical district forms for employment or evaluation. As a result, teacher evaluation forms are often used to evaluate school social workers.   We realize that many districts struggle with how to evaluate Specialized Instructional Support Personnel.  Here are some resources to assist you.

The School Social Work Association of America (SSWAA) has developed the National Evaluation Framework for School Social Work Practice (2013) which is adapted from The Framework for Teaching Evaluation Instrument (2013) by Charlotte Danielson, published by the Danielson Group.   The SSWAA National Evaluation Framework for School Social Work Practice (2013) is cross-walked with the SSWAA National School Social Work Practice Model (2013)    (PDF Version)  and the National Association of Social Workers Standards for School Social Work Services (2012).

School systems are invited to adapt this evaluation framework to meet a district's specific needs for evaluating their school social work programs and services.

Evaluating Specialized Instructional Support Personnel

SSWAA was a contributor to the development of a released guide, Evaluating Specialized Instructional Support Personnel. This guide is a supplement to the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders resource, A Practical Guide for Designing Comprehensive Teacher Evaluation Systems. SSWAA's own evaluation template is in the work, along with those of other SISP professional organizations. In addition, Myrna Mandlawitz, SSWAA's former Government Relations Director, was a reviewer on the project.  The guide helps state and district teams design evaluation systems specifically for specialized instructional support personnel (SISP), including school social workers, so that evaluations capture the diverse roles of and depth and breadth of services provided by SISP. 

The guide is organized in four sections, each of which includes state-level examples and guiding questions for designing evaluation systems that better account for the unique roles and responsibilities of SISP:

• Statutory and regulatory requirements that detail criteria used to determine which personnel are subject to evaluation
• Suitability and need for differentiation within measures of instructional/teacher practice and student growth based upon specific district responsibilities, roles, and national professional association standards
• Evaluator training to assist state and local teams in adopting best practices for specific school personnel
To read more and obtain guide, Click Here.  (32 pages)  February, 2014

Evaluation Resources: 

• Center for Mental Health in Schools. Evaluation and accountability: Getting credit for all you do! (101 pages.)(2015)  Click Here

• Dibble, Nic  (2007).  Using Data to Document the Benefit of School Social Work Services  Click Here