ILTS School Social Worker (184) flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

IDEA related service

School social work is a related service under IDEA when the IEP team determines it is needed for the student to receive a free appropriate public education; frequency and duration must be specified.

Child Find

IDEA requires states to identify, locate, and evaluate all children with suspected disabilities who need special education, including homeless, foster, and private-school children; referral can come from school staff or parents.

FERPA versus HIPAA

FERPA governs education records in schools receiving federal funds; HIPAA generally excludes those records, but may cover school-based health clinic billing or separate health providers.

Compulsory school age Illinois

Illinois requires attendance from age 6 to 17, with exemptions and alternative options; truancy requires systematic school and community intervention rather than punitive action alone.

Ecological perspective

Practice model assessing the fit between a student and nested environments-home, classroom, school, neighborhood, and culture-rather than locating problems solely within the child.

Piaget concrete operational

Ages roughly 7 to 11; children acquire conservation, reversibility, and classification, allowing logical reasoning about concrete objects but not abstract hypothetical problems.

Erikson industry versus inferiority

Ages roughly 6 to 12; children seek competence through schoolwork, peers, and chores; repeated failure or criticism can produce feelings of inferiority and withdrawal.

Vygotsky zone of proximal development

The gap between what a learner can do alone and what they can do with guidance; scaffolding within this zone promotes development through social interaction and language.

Bronfenbrenner microsystem

The immediate settings a student directly experiences-family, classroom, peer group, and close caregivers-whose interactions with the child shape development most directly.

Disorganized attachment

A pattern marked by contradictory, fearful, or frozen responses to a caregiver, often linked to maltreatment or frightening caregiving; it signals risk rather than a fixed diagnosis.

Functional behavioral assessment

A problem-solving process identifying antecedents, consequences, and the function of behavior-attention, escape, access to tangibles, or sensory-to build an effective behavior intervention plan.

Standard score mean

On most norm-referenced tests the mean is 100 and the standard deviation is 15; scores from 85 to 115 fall within one standard deviation of the mean.

Test reliability

Consistency of scores across occasions, raters, or items; high reliability is necessary but not sufficient for validity and is often reported as a correlation coefficient.

Curriculum-based measurement

Brief, standardized probes in reading, math, or writing administered repeatedly to track growth; scores are compared with local or national benchmarks to judge responsiveness.

Adaptive behavior assessment

Measures everyday conceptual, social, and practical skills; adaptive deficits plus low intellectual functioning support an intellectual disability eligibility determination.

PLAAFP

Present levels of academic achievement and functional performance; the IEP statement summarizing strengths, needs, and how the disability affects progress, which drives annual goals and services.

Mandated reporting timeline

Under Illinois ANCRA, a mandated reporter must phone DCFS immediately or within 24 hours and submit a written report within 48 hours when there is reasonable suspicion of abuse or neglect.

Suicide risk screening

A brief structured check of ideation, plan, intent, and protective factors; positive screens require same-day clinical assessment, supervision, and parent or guardian notification.

Solution-focused scaling question

Asking a student to rate progress from 0 to 10 and identify what a one-point increase would look like; it builds concrete goals and highlights existing strengths.

Trauma-informed practice

Services organized around safety, trustworthiness, peer support, collaboration, empowerment, and cultural humility; avoids coercive practices that could re-traumatize students.

CASEL five competencies

Self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making; the framework organizes social-emotional learning across classroom, school, family, and community settings.

Group stage storming

The conflict phase of group development when members test boundaries, compete for roles, and disagree; the leader helps surface and resolve conflict rather than avoid it.

Behavioral consultation

A structured, data-based problem-solving relationship among consultant, teacher, and student; it defines the problem, analyzes it, implements a plan, and evaluates outcomes.

IEP team membership

Required members include the parent, at least one regular education teacher if the child is or may be in regular education, a special education teacher, an LEA representative, and someone who can interpret evaluation results.

Case advocacy

Advocacy focused on securing services or rights for an individual student or family, such as appealing a school decision or connecting to community resources.

Systems advocacy

Efforts to change policies, funding, or practices affecting groups of students, such as revising discipline codes or expanding school mental health staffing.

Wraparound planning

A team-based process building individualized supports around a youth and family across home, school, and community, using natural supports and a single coordinated plan.

NASW core values

Service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence; these values anchor ethical decision-making in school social work.

FERPA inspection timeline

Parents or eligible students have the right to inspect and review education records within 45 days of a request and may seek amendment of records believed inaccurate or misleading.

Manifestation determination

A review required when discipline removes a student with a disability for more than 10 school days; the team asks whether the conduct was caused by or substantially related to the disability.

Section 504 eligibility

A student qualifies with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity; the school provides accommodations and supports, not necessarily special education instruction.

Tarasoff duty

A duty to take reasonable steps to protect an identifiable third party when a client communicates serious threats of violence; school social workers follow district protocols and Illinois law.