Why do AEAs need school social workers?
Social workers are specifically mentioned in the original and subsequent IDEA legislation as a related service that students in special education have a right to receive (See http://www.sswaa.org/about/connecting.pdf. However, that is not the only reason that school social workers are valuable employees for Iowa AEAs. The skills that school social workers bring to the school setting are the skills needed in the implementation of Iowa’s Response to Intervention model. Social workers are trained to work collaboratively with diverse populations to build consensus, find solutions to problems, and to design and implement plans to bring about change. These are exactly the skills that are needed to by team members implementing a Response to Intervention model. For more information see http://www.sswaa.org/Role_of_SSW_in_RTI_FINAL_11-06.pdf.
