Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work

Following continued professional pressure for the release of licensure exam data, the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) in 2022 released a final report entitled, Exam Pass Rate Analysis. The report revealed significant disparities in race/ethnicity and age exam pass rates. These disparities have troubling implications for development, implementation, and ongoing use of evidence-based practice to advance the field of social work; the profession’s power to self-govern; the validity of the licensure exam itself and the process by which it is developed; the function and role of social work faculty, curriculum development, and accreditation; and for the codified ethical mandates of the profession, especially regarding advancing justice and challenging systems of oppression. Many systems converge on this issue. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• The role of social work professional organizations in decision-making;
• The ongoing lack of full transparency in licensure exam data;
• Between-state differences in licensure exam options, including the number of tiers offered and delays in exam-taking, and potential systems and client-level outcomes;
• The role of for-profit education corporations/ third party vendors at various key junctures;
• Proliferation and uptake of digital information & communications technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI);
• The role of state governments and appointed boards;
• Recruitment, admissions, and enrollment trends in social work education;
• Fracturing between regional comprehensive and flagship universities;
• Tenuous sociopolitical and economic conditions across the micro, mezzo, and macro levels.

The Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work invites submissions for a special issue entitled, Addressing Systematic Disparities in ASWB Licensure Exam Pass Rates: How the Profession Plans to Align Itself with Practice Standards, Educational Policy, and Codified Ethics. This issue will be Guest Edited by Dr. Lauren Ricciardelli ([email protected]) & Dr. Stephen McGarity ([email protected]). In this issue, we aim to coalesce a body of research authored by our social work colleagues that: (1) provides data-driven insight and critique of exam disparities across the micro, mezzo, and macro systems; and (2) provides direction in developing evidence-based practices to advance the profession. Contributions intended to improve, critique, or refine evidence-based practice in social work, broadly defined, will be considered for peer-review. Each contribution must clearly state its relevance and application toward an evidence-based approach to social work. Authors should review the journal’s aims and scope and author instructions prior to manuscript development. All submissions to this special issue are due July 15, 2023, through the Taylor & Francis submission portal, using the “invited paper” article type selection.

Instructions for AuthorsSubmit an Article