Beyond Birthdays and Benchmarks: The Role of the School Social Worker in Disrupting Developmentalism's Dominance in the Response to Intervention Problem-Solving Process

• In Event: 68.062 - Poster Session 15
  In Poster Session: 68.062-8 - Special Education Research SIG Poster Session

Abstract

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to make a case for the significant role that school social workers can play in disrupting the dominant developmentalism discourse in the Response to Intervention (RTI) model, in order to create educational experiences that are rooted in equity, inclusivity, and social justice. An over-reliance on developmentalism, can lead to inequitable and discriminatory experiences for students, particularly those who are judged to be not meeting “universal” developmental norms. School social workers, due to their historic commitment to the person-in-environment perspective, their theoretical training in ecological systems theory, their practice training in assessment and evaluation, and their professional ethical mandate to challenge oppressive structures and practices makes them uniquely qualified to lead this change process.

Author

• Erin Sugrue, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities