Practice Evaluation and Research

1.Techniques for evaluating progress and effectiveness of intervention, treatment, and service plans

• Measure progress against the goals and objectives in the plan, starting with a baseline before intervention.
• Single-system (single-subject) designs track one client over time: AB (baseline, then intervention), ABA and ABAB (withdrawal and reintroduction strengthen causal inference) and multiple baseline designs across behaviors, settings or clients.
• Tools include standardized measures repeated over time (such as the PHQ-9 or GAD-7), goal attainment scaling, behavior counts, client logs and rating scales.
• Routine outcome monitoring, or feedback-informed treatment (for example, the Outcome Rating Scale and Session Rating Scale), uses session-by-session client feedback to catch lack of progress early.
• Review results with the client and change the plan when progress stalls; distinguish practical (clinical) significance from statistical significance.

In practice: A worker records the number of panic attacks a client has each week for three weeks before starting CBT, then continues counting during treatment, plotting an AB graph they review together every two weeks.

2.Methods of evaluating agency programs (e.g., needs assessment, formative/summative assessment, cost- effectiveness, cost-benefit analysis, outcomes assessment)

• A needs assessment, done before a program is designed, uses social indicators, surveys, key informant interviews, focus groups and community forums to identify the size and nature of a need.
• Formative evaluation happens during a program to improve it (including process evaluation of whether it is delivered as intended); summative evaluation happens at the end to judge its overall worth and outcomes.
• Outcome assessment asks whether participants changed in the intended ways (knowledge, behavior, condition), ideally against a comparison.
• Cost-effectiveness analysis compares costs with outcomes expressed in natural units (cost per person housed, per relapse prevented); cost-benefit analysis puts both costs and benefits in dollars and yields a benefit-cost ratio.
• Choose the method that fits the question: is there a need, is the program running as planned, does it work, and is it worth what it costs?

In practice: A board asks whether a new youth employment program should continue. The evaluator uses summative outcome data on job placement and a cost-effectiveness analysis of cost per youth employed, compared with the previous program.

Advanced Generalist items go deepest on program evaluation and costs; Bachelors items focus on recognizing the types and their purposes.

3.Methods, techniques, and instruments used to evaluate social work practice

• Social workers should monitor and evaluate policies, programs and practice interventions (NASW 5.02) and use evaluation to improve their own practice.
• Methods include single-system designs, standardized instruments, client satisfaction surveys, qualitative feedback from clients, and case reviews in supervision.
• Peer review and case record audits check practice against standards; supervision reviews use case recordings, process recordings or, with consent, audio and video.
• Practice-based evidence collects routine data from everyday practice to learn what works for which clients.
• Choose instruments that are reliable, valid, culturally appropriate and practical for the setting.

In practice: A school social worker wants to know if her social skills group helps. She has teachers rate each child’s behavior before and after the group, collects the children’s own feedback, and reviews the results with her supervisor.

This AKS appears on the Bachelors, Masters and Advanced Generalist exams.