The Final Report - Malcolm Shabazz City High School, Madison WI

Decision Item #24:Student Impact:ELIMINATE SELECT SOCIAL WORK FUNCTIONS AND REDUCEALLOCATION ACCORDINGLY (cont.)There is no direct student impact of discontinuing social workersservices to staff. If social workers no longer provide staff development,there may be an indirect link through reduced teacher knowledgerelated to relevant issues. If the social worker’s role as educator wereeliminated, there would be an increasing requirement for teachers toprovide classroom services (although social workers could continue todevelop curriculum). There are no data to suggest that such classes aremore effective when taught by social workers. With the exception ofpositive behavior curriculum (which is mandated, but could be deliveredentirely by teachers), the District also has the option to discontinuethese classroom is program is directed toward staff development, andthere are no direct student impacts. However, there may be an indirectlink between the program and improving administration (therebyindirectly affecting student achievement).Strategic Priorities: Home and Community Partnerships are supported by social workers (1)through collaborative relationships. In addition, social workers are a keycomponent of student support (3)Board Priorities:Effectiveness:Social workers often see students to improve attendance. In the 1 stsemester of 2001-2002, social workers served 2,730 students (30% ofall those served by social workers) to improve attendance 11 . Data arenot available to determine what percent of students served increasedattendance as a result of social worker interaction, but anecdotalevidence suggests that that is the case.Data from the 1 st semester of 2001-2002 (and including all school socialworkers) indicates that 7,370 students were served. Of this total, socialworkers enrolled 1,170 students in the District, enrolled 1,471 studentsin free and reduced lunch, and provided classroom services to 7,886students. There are no data to demonstrate the outcomes of theseservices.One measure of effectiveness could be the principal surveys, whererespondents were asked to assign priority to over 20 allocations,including social workers, psychologists, and guidance counselors. Onthe survey, high school, middle school and elementary school principalsranked social workers 2, 8, and 2, respectively.11 Includes all social workers at the District, not just those funded through student services.Virchow, Krause & Co. LLP Page 118March 11, 2002