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When the focus of the accreditation process for social work programs in the United States shifted to competency-based student achievement in 2008 the overall student experience in a program seemed ...

Mastering competence is a ‘cornerstone’ in the preparation of social work students for professional practice in the field. But who determines how competency is defined? And, ultimately, who gets to...

With an increase in social work courses being offered in online and hybrid formats, it is imperative that social work programs understand the new teaching tenets and engagement mediums employed to ...

To meet accreditation requirements, many programs have used indirect measurements focused on student perceptions, which are sufficient to meet current Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) requirements. This article assists programs with measurement of the ten 2008 EPAS competencies by presenting two new instruments that measure implicit and explicit curriculum and compliment the already-existing Baccalaureate Educational Assessment Package (BEAP) instrument set. The Foundation Curriculum Assessment Instrument provides a direct pre–post measurement of how well a program's curriculum prepares students for practice. The Field/Practicum Placement Assessment Instrument focuses on the measurement of field education competencies. As demonstrated in a matrix, the BEAP instruments provide measures of all 41 competencies and the knowledge, values, and skills that help define them.

In 2003, Idaho selected the Foster PRIDE/ Adopt PRIDE preservice training and resource family development program. PRIDE participants (n = 228) completed a pre and posttest survey based on the PRIDE training competencies in 2004-2005. Results indicate that PRIDE is an effective training and resource family development program. Providing and evaluating foster/ adoptive parent preservice training programs can assist child welfare programs in making a positive difference in the lives of families and children involved in the child welfare system while increased cost-savings by retaining foster/adoptive families over time.