Unit Introduction and What You Will Learn

There is a wide range of school-related problems that social workers can assist in addressing through evidence-based practices and community, human, and technological resources. Week eight, an asynchronous week, is designed to help students gain a more well-defined understanding of the problems and awareness of resources that can help address them. Students will read chapter eight of Jarolmen and Batista-Thomas (2023), which reviews issues critical for school social workers. Students engage in forums to share their experiences with problems and explore a broad range of resources. The lecture video for students this week includes practical content on saving resources to share with clients and colleagues, as well as information about the fact sheet assignment.

The agenda for the lecture video is as follows:

• Content for week eight
• Saving informational resources
• School-related problem fact sheet

The learning objectives for week eight include:

• Identify and define school-related problems social workers commonly encounter.
• Demonstrate an understanding of various resources (human, community, and technological) that can be leveraged to address school-related challenges.
• Evaluate strategies for effectively integrating community resources into school settings to provide wraparound services, particularly in rural and small district contexts.
• Demonstrate practical skills in collecting, organizing, and sharing informational resources valuable for professional social work practice in schools.

Unit Assignments

Content

• Read Jarolmen and Batista-Thomas (2023) Chapter 8: Current Societal Issues Affecting Children in Schools
• Watch my lecture video

The expectation is that each of your replies will be substantive and provide meaningful perspectives, contributing to the forum’s conversation and scholarship. They can be related to the prompts or building on conversations shared by peers. There are five forums for this week, and you are expected to make at least 6 replies across any of the forums and read all of your peers’ replies. These forums include the following:

• Students begin developing ideas for their school-related problem factsheet in Defining a Problem and Preparing for School-Related Problem Factsheet, sharing topics they are considering and what draws them to those issues.
• Community Resources Sharing asks students to identify and share actionable community resources relevant to their factsheet topics, with particular attention to the unique challenges of rural service settings.
• Human, community, and technological resources in school settings are the focus of Technological and Human Resources, where students explore collaboration, universal design, and tools that support student equity and access.
• Students discuss how the resources and tools used in school social work practice connect to culturally responsive service delivery in Intersection of Supportive Resources and Culturally Responsive Practices.
• Chapter Eight Textbook Questions invites students to respond to prompts from Jarolmen and Bautista-Thomas (2023) on state policy needs, serving diverse student populations, and the school social worker’s role in policy development.

Unit Resources

I have posted the A-04 School-Related Problem Fact Sheet, the more detailed Assignment Description and Rubric, and we will discuss the assignment in my lecture video. If you are interested, I have an infographic I created on creativity Creators on Creating Book [Infographic].

In my lecture video, I show my strategy for keeping my informational resources. The app I use is called Obsidian, but years ago, when I first started doing this, I just had a folder of Word documents. Make sure to watch the video for something you might like for week 10.

All of the presentations for this class can be found at https://presentations.jacobrcampbell.com. This week’s slides are Spring 2026 SOWK 587 Week 08 - Saving Informational Resources and Fact Sheet Assignment.

The Lecture Videos tab in the MyHeritage course is where you will be able to find class recordings. The video this week is at Spring 2026 SOWK 587 Week 08.

To-Do Lists

• Watch my lecture video
• Read chapter 8
• Complete five replies in the forums
• Have a wonderful spring break!