Preparing MSW Students for Social Work Licensure: A Curricular Case Example

Licensing has been a dynamic tension for the social work profession for many years, specifically in social work education. Increasingly, social work programs are using factors related to social work licensing (pass rates, number of test takers, etc.) as an indicator of programmatic success. Yet few, if any, published papers examine curricular innovations designed to prepare students for social work licensing exams. This article describes the initiative that one MSW program implemented to address licensing preparedness. After a brief overview of social work licensing, this article describes the contextual rationale, implementation, and evaluation of the Licensing Preparation Initiative (LPI). Since its inception in spring 2011, LPI data suggest that students are more knowledgeable about the process for applying to sit for the exam and the content areas of the exam, more prepared to take the social work licensing exam, and more confident in their ability to pass the social work licensing exam once they graduate. This article concludes with specific strategies and resources for designing a curricular initiative to address licensing preparedness.     

Activating a Teaching Philosophy in Social Work Education: Articulation,Implementation, and Evaluation

This article describes how to develop a comprehensive teaching philosophy from articulation through implementation to evaluation. Using literature and teaching-learning experiences, we discuss pragmatic steps for using a teaching philosophy to inform, engage, and evaluate teaching-learning. We promote an integrated teaching philosophy to ensure competent practice in social work education.