A Closer Look at the Advanced-Standing Program in Social Work Education

Abstract

The abbrevtated advanced-standing program in social work education is evaluated in light of evidence that Bachelor of Social Work as compared to non-Bachelor of Social Work degree applicants are substantially less prepared to pursue graduate studies. Except for a few applicants from prestige colleges, discrepancies between the undergraduate grade potnt average and scores on the Graduate Record Examination and Test of Standard Written English reveal the existence of undergraduate grade inflation in most public and private institutions of higher education. A method for discounting the undergraduate grade point average is presented. Adopting an admissions policy that sets a higher graduate record examination or discounted undergraduate grade point average standard for acceptance into the advanced-standing program is recommended by virtue of the unavoidable tradeoff between quantity and quality. / -his article examines the advanced-standing program in social work education, which enables students with a bachelor's degree in social work (BSW) to complete an MSW in less than 2 years.

Perceived Preparedness and Knowledge of Substance Abuse Among Recent MSW Graduates: Advanced Standing Revisited

“…Carrillo and Thyer (1994) studied interviewing skills of advanced standing and nonadvanced standing students at the beginning of the second year of MSW study and found no significant differences. Similar to Noble and Hepler (1990), Specht, Britt, and Frost (1984) found that MSW graduates with a non-BSW degree had higher professional achievement on 5 of 10 indicators than did MSW graduates with a BSW degree. Richman and Rosenfeld (1988) found that the two groups were similar on job satisfaction and employment history.…”

“…Section 3.2 of CSWE's (2008) Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards justifies the authorization of advanced standing through a redundancy model (Noble & Hepler, 1990;Thyer, Vonk, & Tandy, 1995). The standards state that social work programs must recognize prior educational achievement and avoid redundant requirements for students who demonstrate required knowledge and skills.…”

“…They found that first-year MSW students with a BSW degree had lower academic performances than did non-BSW degree holders, but that second-year MSW students with or without a BSW performed equally well. By studying academic records, Noble and Hepler (1990) concluded that BSW applicants were weaker academically compared to non-BSW applicants However, they recognized that admissions based primarily on a single statistic (grade-point average) did not sufficiently capture the characteristics necessary for advanced practice. They acknowledged the dilemma created by the competing goals of avoiding redundancy and preventing the accelerated graduate education of potentially unprepared students.…”

“…Furthermore, much of the early literature was methodologically weak, using small sample sizes and dependent variables of questionable validity. These variables have included journal publications, pursuit of post-MSW education, grade-point average, classroom performance, scores on the practice section of the MSW licensure exam, professional achievement such as salary, and sense of professional identity-variables that are either difficult to measure or of unclear relevance to the questions under investigation (Noble & Hepler, 1990;Thyer et al, 1994;Vinton, 1999;Weinbach, 1999). Additionally, social work program policies regarding advanced standing and BSW programs have become more rigorous since many of these studies were performed (Knight, 1993).…”

Grade-Induced Beliefs About Undergraduate Generalist Social Work Practice Competency

“…Given common hearsay complaints about the readiness of advancedstanding students to conclude their graduate social work education in 1 year and the inconclusive results of methodologically flawed studies (Hepler and Noble 1990;Noble and Hepler 1990) relating to differences between advancedstanding and regular 2-year MSW students in terms of graduate school and practitioner performances (Schlesinger and Wolock 1974;Ammons 1975;Eades 1976;Kadushin and Kelling 1977;O'Neil 1980;Richman and Rosenfeld 1988;Specht, Britt, and Frost 1984), it would make sense to put in place an ongoing check on the validity of the original CSWE premise. Gathering empirical evidence in this regard would be consistent with the long-ago recommendation of the Task Force on Quality in Graduate Social Work Education (National Conference of Deans and Directors of Graduate Schools of Social Work 1984).…”