School social work is defined as a specialty by a number of national and local organizations. Indiana, along with several other states, requires individuals to be dually licensed to practice as a school social worker. In order to qualify for licensure, individuals must receive their training through higher education programs approved by the Indiana Department of Education. Indiana University and its School of Social Work in collaboration with the School of Education provide the required training for the school social work licensure.

IDOE Requirements

Indiana University School of Social Work Requirements

Master of Social Work Students (MSW) choose a Practice Area as part of their education plan. Indiana University School of Social Work offers the School Social Work Practice Area as part of the Master of Social Work (MSW) program on two campuses, IUPUI and IU Northwest.The Schools Practice Area Curriculum incorporates the IDOE School Services and the School Social Work Standards.

Post-MSW Degree Applicants

IU MSW graduates who did not do the Schools Practice Area (formerly “Concentration”) may request a review of their MSW coursework and post-MSW degree school-based experiences.* Credit toward the MSW Schools Practice Area endorsement is available for MSW graduates who can demonstrate substantive evidence of MSW school-based practice experience. In exceptional cases where IU MSW graduates can demonstrate substantive school-based experience where they are employed directly by a school corporation, the Schools Practice Area License Review Committee may provide the Schools Practice Area endorsement without requiring additional coursework.

In most cases, including MSW graduates with school-based community mental health experience, MSW graduates who did not do the Schools Practice Area as part of their educational plan will be required to take additional MSW coursework to qualify for the IDOE MSW school social work endorsement.

Inquiries about having MSW coursework assessed for the MSW Schools Practice Area, should be directed to Sheila Dennis at dennis2@iupui.edu.

Applying for Licensure

MSW graduates who have obtained the LSW/LCSW license and who have done the MSW Schools Practice Area coursework may proceed with applying for the IDOE School PEL School Social Work license.

IDOE License next steps

Recognizing the social, political, legal, and ethical implications of assessment, students enrolled in this course critically examine various conceptual frameworks and apply bio-psychosocial and strengths perspectives to understand its multidimensional aspects. Students learn to conduct sophisticated mental status and lethality risk interviews, engage in strengths and assets discovery, and apply the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association and other classification schemes in formulating assessment hypotheses. They gain an understanding of the application of several relevant assessment instruments and learn to evaluate their relevance for service to at-risk populations, including persons affected by mental health and addictions issues. Students learn to collaborate with a diverse range of consumers and other professionals in developing meaningful assessments upon which to plan goals, intervention strategies, and means for evaluation.

Model Syllabus

This course builds upon 503 (HBSE I) and focuses on developing further knowledge of human behavior theories and their application to practice.  Students will link course content to the concentration that the student has selected.

This course builds on the practice theories, principles, and skills introduced in the Professional Practice Skills course to prepare students for competent social work practice with individuals, families and groups.  A strengths perspective will be emphasized, and students will be introduced to the fundamental components of the task-centered and solution-focused approaches to practice.  The trans-theoretical model of change will be presented, so students can develop skills to engage clients in the process of change.  Students will be prepared to complete assessments and to use intervention skills that will serve diverse populations with specific attention to gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, class, race and ethnicity. 

651 (Practicum II) and 652 (Practicum III) together provide an in-depth advanced practicum experience for MSW students in a designated concentration.  Students complete both of these practicum courses in the same community agency/organization under practice supervision of an approved agency field instructor and academic guidance of a faculty field liaison.



Practicum II and III build upon the more generalist-focused Intermediate Practicum I and deepen the integration and application of social work knowledge, values, and skills for advanced practice.  Students engage in these advanced practicum courses while enrolled in the required concentration courses.  Students spend a minimum of 640 hours in a setting that provides services and allows students an opportunity to engage in experiences that support mastery of all ten core competencies as operationalized by advanced practice behaviors.

651 (Practicum II) and 652 (Practicum III) together provide an in-depth advanced practicum experience for MSW students in a designated concentration.  Students complete both of these practicum courses in the same community agency/organization under practice supervision of an approved agency field instructor and academic guidance of a faculty field liaison.



Practicum II and III build upon the more generalist-focused Intermediate Practicum I and deepen the integration and application of social work knowledge, values, and skills for advanced practice.  Students engage in these advanced practicum courses while enrolled in the required concentration courses.  Students spend a minimum of 640 hours in a setting that provides services and allows students an opportunity to engage in experiences that support mastery of all ten core competencies as operationalized by advanced practice behaviors.

This course is designed to build individual and group practice skills for work with children and families impacted by child physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and/or family violence. Emphasis will be placed on practice skills with children. Students will practice assessment and intervention skills guided by theories of child development, attachment and bonding, grief, and trauma. The goals of safety, permanency and well-being will be emphasized when assessing risk and trauma and intervening within the child welfare and school systems.   Students will explore cultural differences and issues impacting particular oppressed and underserved populations.

Model Syllabus

This course will focus on the experiences of children and families in the child welfare system.  Content will include interventions with families through all stages of change including preparation for change, separation and loss, the changed family system, reintegration as children transition into a family, and adolescents transitioning into independent living.  Content will include the impact on families when the natural cycle of family development is disrupted.  Special consideration will be given to various family types including adoptive, foster care, kinship, extended, single parent, multi-generational, and homosexual families.  Practice content will emphasize strengths based and family-centered approaches and include knowledge and skill development to help children and families work through their family and personal crisis and grief in a timely manner to achieve permanency for children in safe and nurturing environments within 12 months after separation.

Model Syllabus

This course will examine the development of and build skills for the implementation of a wide range of prevention and intervention strategies to support child well-being provided at the community level.  Special attention will be given to the philosophy of empowerment-oriented and client-driven service models.  This course will provide content to build skills in developing and implementing mutual aid and self-help groups to support and educate children and families on issues such as parenting, domestic violence, grief/loss, conflict mediation and child abuse issues.  The course will explore the community as a resource and discuss strategies of collaboration and advocacy services for families and children to prevent out-of-home placement or involvement in other formal child protection/juvenile justice services, such as models of community-building, youth development and family group conferencing/restorative justice.  The course also provides frameworks for identifying and analyzing best practices in group and community-based services for children and families. 

This course will focus upon the role of the social worker in health care settings. Issues such as team building, professional identity, patient advocacy, ethics and managed care will be addressed. Also, the impact of healthcare payment sources and healthcare choices for patients will be explored.

This course examines the impact of illness from the medical, psychosocial and environmental perspectives.  Areas, such as coping with chronic illness, caregiver stress, grieving and loss, medical ethics and violence as a healthcare issue are examined.  The needs of at-risk populations (i.e., children, survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, frail elderly, individuals living with HIV/AIDS, etc.) are also examined.

Model Syllabus

The purpose of this course is to provide health concentration students with increased depth of knowledge in the area of practice with older adults in healthcare areas, such as acute care hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, adult day care and long-term care facilities.  Effective social work practice with older adults relies on knowledge and application of evidence-based theories, assessments and interventions with this population.   

Model Syllabus

This is an issue-oriented social work course on the policy and practice issues in loss, grief, death, and dying across the life span for diverse populations.  The major educational goal is to evaluate and understand the many problems and key resources relevant to social work practice with persons encountering grief, loss, death and bereavement in the context of health care settings.  Students will attain knowledge, values and skills to meet the demands for entry level practice with clients (and their families) encountering chronic or terminal illness.

Model Syllabus

Students enrolled in this course develop knowledge, values and ethics, skills, and judgment necessary for competent application of selected evidence-based, best practice approaches for service for children, youth, adults, and families affected by mental health and addictions issues. Students explore topics such as risk, resilience, recovery, and relapse-prevention; and consider implications of current social and policy factors affecting service delivery to persons affected by mental health and addictions issues. Students learn to discover, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate evidence of practice effectiveness and apply that knowledge in communication, strengths discovery and assessment, hypothesis formation, contracting, intervention and prevention planning, service delivery, and evaluation. Students develop professional understanding and expertise in the application of at least one evidence-based approach for service to individuals and families affected by at least one specific mental health or addictions issues.

Model Syllabus

Students enrolled in this course develop professional knowledge and skill for group work services to and for persons affected by mental health and addictions issues.  The phases of group development and intervention during the various group work stages provide a conceptual framework for the course experience.  Students learn to serve children, youth, adults and families in groups that are therapeutic, growth producing and life enhancing.  Students examine a number of theoretical perspectives including cognitive behavioral, communications, behavioral, and interpersonal approaches.

Model Syllabus

Students enrolled in this course examine a wide range of community-based services provided for people with severe mental illness and/or severe addiction problems. Special attention is given to strength-based, client-driven, and evidence-based practice models. Content includes community-based services in areas of case management, employment, housing, illness management, family, dual disorder treatment, and consumer self-help. Students also examine a variety of issues involved in the provision of community-based services such as ethical and legal issues, quality and continuity of care, cultural competency, organizational and financial factors, and other relevant policy and practice issues.

Model Syllabus

This course is designed to develop and broaden student knowledge and skill in direct practice with children and adolescents.  Social work practice will be examined within the context of meta-frameworks that include developmental stages/tasks, sexual development and orientation, gender issues, family context, culture, larger environmental systems, discrimination/oppression, and legal rights and responsibilities.  Emphasis will be placed on practice methods including assessment, interviewing, comparative treatment models, and practice with special populations.

This advanced level practice course is designed to provide students with an overview of contemporary social work practice in school settings.  Specific topical areas include the historical and contemporary contexts of social work service in school settings, legal mandates for social work practice in schools, social policies and trends in education affecting school settings and social work practice in schools, preventive and intervention methods and roles applicable to diverse populations in school settings, research issues and practice effectiveness, and multiculturalism and diversity issues in social work practice in schools.

Model Syllabus

This course examines a number of single-system designs that can be used to evaluate practice or practice interventions with clients.  The designs, which are n = 1 types of studies, can be used with any size system, e.g., individuals, couples, families, groups, or organizational (agency) units.  Students in this course will learn a variety of single-system designs, the descriptive statistics that are used with such designs, graphing and plotting data, content on binomial and normal distributions, and tests of hypotheses with single-system designs.  In addition, important issues for this course are the values and ethics that relate to the design selection, baseline and withdrawal phases, and appropriate analyses and reports of results.



This course furthers the knowledge, skills, and values students develop in the foundation-year research course. Students will apply their knowledge and skills in research to evaluate practice or program effectiveness in their concentrations, using research methods that are sensitive to consumers’ needs and clients’ race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and additional aspects important to effective and ethical research.

This course examines a number of single-system designs that can be used to evaluate practice or practice interventions with clients.  The designs, which are n = 1 types of studies, can be used with any size system, e.g., individuals, couples, families, groups, or organizational (agency) units.  Students in this course will learn a variety of single-system designs, the descriptive statistics that are used with such designs, graphing and plotting data, content on binomial and normal distributions, and tests of hypotheses with single-system designs.  In addition, important issues for this course are the values and ethics that relate to the design selection, baseline and withdrawal phases, and appropriate analyses and reports of results.



This course furthers the knowledge, skills, and values students develop in the foundation-year research course. Students will apply their knowledge and skills in research to evaluate practice or program effectiveness in their concentrations, using research methods that are sensitive to consumers’ needs and clients’ race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and additional aspects important to effective and ethical research.