Suggestions for Utilizing the 2008 EPAS in CSWE-Accredited Baccalaureate and Masters Curriculums—Reflections from the Field, Part 1: The Explicit Curriculum

Figures & data

TABLE 1 Syllabus Creation and Evaluation Instrument

2008 EPAS Accreditation Standards: Core competencies	Description of competencies (measurable practice behaviors comprised of knowledge, values, & skills)	The goal will be to demonstrate the integration and application of the competencies in practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities. Below are the practice behaviors provided by 2008 EPAS for use to operationalize curriculum and assessment
EP2.1.1: Identify as a professional social worker and conduct oneself accordingly	Social workers serve as representatives of the profession, its mission, and its core values. They know the professions history. Social workers commit themselves to the profession's enhancement and to their own professional conduct and growth.	Social workers: advocate for client access to the services of social work; practice personal reflection and self-correction to assure continual professional development; attend to professional roles and boundaries; demonstrate professional demeanor in behavior, appearance, and communication; engage in career-long learning; and, use supervision and consultation
EP2.1.2: Apply social work ethical principles to guide professional practice.	Social workers have an obligation to conduct themselves ethically and to engage in ethical decision-making. Social workers are knowledgeable about the value base of the profession, its ethical standards, and relevant law.	Social workers: recognize and manage personal values in a way that allows professional values to guide practice; make ethical decisions by applying standards of the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics and, as applicable, of the International Federation of Social Workers/International Association of Schools of Social Work Ethics in Social Work Statement of Principles; tolerate ambiguity in resolving ethical conflicts; and, apply strategies of ethical reasoning to arrive at principled decisions.
EP2.1.3: Apply critical thinking to inform & communicate professional judgments.	Social workers are knowledgeable about the principles of logic, scientific inquiry, and reasoned discernment. They use critical thinking augmented by creativity and curiosity. Critical thinking also requires the synthesis and communication of relevant information.	Social workers: distinguish, appraise, and integrate multiple sources of knowledge, including research-based knowledge, and practice wisdom; analyze models of assessment, prevention, intervention, and evaluation; and, demonstrate effective oral and written communication in working with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
EP2.1.4: Engage diversity and difference in practice.	Social workers understand how diversity characterizes and shapes the human experience and is critical to the formation of identity. The dimensions of diversity are understood as the intersection of multiple factors including age, class, color, culture, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, immigration status, political ideology, race, religion, and sexual orientation. Social workers appreciate that, as a consequence of difference, a person's life experiences may include oppression, poverty, marginalization, and alienation as well as privilege, power and acclaim.	Social workers: recognize the extent to which a culture's structures and values may oppose, marginalize, alienate, or create or enhance privilege and power; gain sufficient self-awareness to eliminate the influence of personal biases and values in working with diverse groups; recognize and communicate their understanding of the importance of difference in shaping life experiences; and, view themselves as learners and engage those with whom they work as informants.
EP2.1.5: Advance human rights and social and economic justice.	Each person, regardless of position in society, has basic human rights, such as freedom, safety, privacy, an adequate standard of living, health care, and education. Social workers recognize the global interconnectedness of oppression and are knowledgeable about theories of justice and strategies to promote human and civil rights. Social work incorporates social justice practices in organizations, institutions, and society to ensure these basic human rights are distributed equitably and without prejudice.	Social workers: understand (sic: “can articulate”) the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination; advocate for human rights and social and economic justice; and engage in practices that advance social and economic justice.
EP2.1.6: Engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed research.	Social workers use practice experience to inform research, employ evidence-based interventions, evaluate their own practice and use research findings to improve practice, policy, and social service delivery. Social workers comprehend quantitative and qualitative research and understand scientific and ethical approaches to building knowledge.	Social workers: use practice experiences to inform scientific inquiry; and use research evidence to inform practice.
EP2.1.7: Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment.	Social workers are knowledgeable about human behavior across the life course; the range of social systems in which people live; and the ways social systems promote or deter people in maintaining or achieving health and well-being. Social workers apply theories and knowledge from the liberal arts to understand biological, social, cultural, psychological, and spiritual development.	Social workers: utilize conceptual frameworks to guide the processes of assessment, intervention, and evaluation; and, critique and apply knowledge to understand person and environment.
EP2.1.8: Engage in policy practice to advance social and economic well-being and to deliver effective social work services.	Social work practitioners understand that policy affects service delivery, and they engage actively in policy practice. Social workers know the history of current structures of social policies and services; the role of policy in service delivery; and the role of practice in policy development.	Social workers: analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance social well-being; and collaborate with colleagues and clients for effective policy action.
EP2.1.9: Respond to contexts that shape practice.	Social workers are informed, resourceful, and proactive in responding to evolving organizational, community, and societal contexts at all levels of practice. Social workers recognize the context of practice is dynamic, and use knowledge and skill to respond proactively.	Social workers: continuously discover, appraise, and attend to changing locales, populations, scientific and technological developments, and emerging societal trends to provide relevant services; and, provide leadership in promoting sustainable changes in service delivery and practice to improve the quality of social services.
EP2.1.10: Engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.	Professional practice involves the dynamic and interactive processes of engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation at multiple levels. Social workers have the knowledge and skills to practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Practice knowledge includes indentifying, analyzing, and implementing evidence-based interventions designed to achieve client goals; using research and technological advances; evaluating program outcomes and practice effectiveness; developing, analyzing, advocating, and providing leadership for policies and services; and promoting social and economic justice.	EP2.1.10(a) – Engagement Social workers: substantively & affectively prepare for action with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities; use empathy and other interpersonal skills; and develop mutually agreed-upon focus of work & desired outcomes.
		EP2.1.10(b)—Assessment Social workers: collect, organize, and interpret client data; assess client strengths and limitations; develop mutually agreed-upon intervention goals & objectives; and select appropriate intervention strategies.
		EP2.1.10(c)—Intervention Social workers: initiate actions to achieve organizational goals; implement prevention interventions that enhance client capacities; help clients resolve problems; negotiate, mediate, and advocate for clients; and facilitate transitions and endings.
		EP2.1.10(d)—EvaluationSocial workers critically analyze, monitor, and evaluate interventions.

TABLE 2 Potential Explicit Curriculum Assessment Plan

EPAS, 2008 competency (What will students be prepared to do when they graduate?)	Benchmark achievement (How well should students' be able to do on the assessments?)	Practice behavior (How will the outcome competency be measured?)	Measures (each practice behavior needs 3 measures) (Who will be assessed, when?)	Procedure for implementation (Who will be assessed, how?)
10 Core competencies required by EPAS 2008 provide the domain of all social work practice.	Numeric representation (for example, “a mean of 4.0 on a scale of 1.0–5.0 or better as grand mean on all measures for this practice behavior”). According to EPAS, outcomes are to be made available to constituents.	Generalist (both BSW & MSW) requires 2–3 measures on 40 practice behaviors serving as indices of the core competencies.MSW concentrations and specializations TBD by individual programs as consistent with core competencies also require 2–3 individual measures.	1. Class (knowledge): EPAS practice behaviors could be used as course objectives to be measured by a required item in the course (for ex., an exam question, assignment, rubric, etc.)	1. In-class measure
			2. Field (skills): Instructors evaluation on field instrument.	2. Consultation between field instructor, student, and faculty field liaison
			3. Students (values): Responses to Questions on Exit Survey evaluation (how student's value or fell they themselves manifest the core competencies)	3. Graduating Student Exit Survey.
Note. While the work in Table 2 is original to the authors, we acknowledge the influence in our thinking by Dean Stephen Holloway. Readers are encouraged to consult Holloway (2008) for an in-depth and excellent discussion of assessment under the 2008 EPAS.

TABLE 3 Curriculum Evaluation Instrument

2008 EPAS accreditation standards: Core competencies	Description of competencies (Measurable practice behaviors comprised of social work knowledge, values, and skills)	The goal is to demonstrate the integration and application of the competencies in practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities. Below are the practice behaviors that are provided by 2008 EPAS for use to operationalize curriculum and assessment. (The 4–6 course objectives listed in individual course syllabi should correspond to these competencies, demonstrating where in the program they are measured and how )	Measure: Where does each operationalized behavior appear in the curriculum? (May appear multiple times, for example, in coursework as well as field.)	Assessment criteria: What is the measure? (Specific assignments, readings, exam questions, questions on the field instrument, etc.)	How do we know we're meeting our objectives? What are our benchmarks?
EP2.1.1: Identify as a professional social worker and conduct oneself accordingly	Social workers serve as representatives of the profession, its mission, and its core values. They know the profession's history. Social workers commit themselves to the profession's enhancement and to their own professional conduct and growth.	Social workers: Advocate for client access to the services of social work;	1. Class Measure
			2. Measure from Field
			3. Student Exit Measure
		practice personal reflection and self-correction to assure continual professional development;	1. Class Measure
			2. Measure from Field
			3. Student Exit Measure
		attend to professional roles and boundaries;	1. Class Measure
			2. Measure from Field
			3. Student Exit Measure
		demonstrate professional demeanor in behavior, appearance, and communication;	1. Class Measure
			2. Measure from Field
			3. Student Exit Measure
		engage in career-long learning; and,	1. Class Measure
			2. Measure from Field
			3. Student Exit Measure
		use supervision and consultation.	1. Class Measure
			2. Measure from Field
			3. Student Exit Measure

Table

Exam Question:
“Please indicate the importance of educating mental health professionals on existing child abuse reporting laws knowing reports of suspected child abuse coming from these professional will be more likely to result in needed service delivery to children.”	1 Very Unimportant	2 Somewhat Unimportant	3 Neither Important nor Unimportant	4 Somewhat Important	5 Very Important
Note. Question adapted from Cummins (2005, p. 159).

Holloway , S. 2008 . Council on Social Work Education, Commission on Accreditation: Some suggestions on educational program assessment and continuous improvement , Washington, DC : Council on Social Work Education .

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Cummins , L. K. 2005 . Instructor's manual and test bank for DiNitto and Cummins: Social welfare politics and public policy , 6th , Boston, MA : Pearson Education .

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