Examination writers sought

Deadline for applications is November 20, 2008.

The social work licensing examinations used by 49 states, several Canadian provinces, Washington, D.C., and the Virgin Islands are developed and maintained by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB). There are four examination categories, Bachelors, Masters, Advanced Generalist, and Clinical. Questions, or “items”, are kept in banks from which items are drawn for the different examination forms used during each year and from one year to the next.

Questions used on the examinations are developed through a long process that begins with raw items submitted by trained writers under contract. ASWB is now recruiting for the 2009 writer training session.

Contracted writers are paid $1,000 for 30 items approved and sent to the Examination Committee for review, over approximately six to eight months. Writers must be licensed social workers, and must attend a weekend training session in Virginia, typically held the last weekend of June. All expenses for travel, meals and lodging for the training are paid by ASWB. During the training, writers hear presentations on the examination itself and on how to write items. They are given the opportunity to write, to rewrite questions as a group, and to work with editors in order to learn a creative and often difficult skill.

The trained writers then go home and submit items in groups of 10, according to assignments made by association staff. Current references from texts, journals, or reliable sources on the Internet, supporting the correct answer, should be listed for each question. Internet sources should not be sites directed to the general public.

The submitted items are forwarded to Item Development Consultants, who edit them to make needed minor changes and/or work with writers on less satisfactory submissions. Good items are finally submitted to the ASWB Examination Committee for final review. Items are credited toward an individual’s total when they are approved by an Item Development Consultant as ready to go to the Examination Committee.

Each contributor may choose among the areas where items are most needed, according to their own areas of expertise. Shipments of assignments are primarily done by secure e-mail, but items can be submitted by Federal Express. Writers must sign a confidentiality statement saying that they will protect the information they receive in working as part of the examination program, and that they will not participate in any examination preparation review courses for three years after their contracts end. Also, they may not take the examination for any level that they have worked on for a year after the end of the contract.

Writers are chosen on the basis of demographics, including race and ethnicity, gender, geographic location, and areas and level of expertise, as well as on aptitude demonstrated on an assessment test.
To be considered for the ASWB Item Writer Program:

Send a letter of interest and a resume to:

Lavina Harless
Association of Social Work Boards
400 South Ridge Parkway, Suite B
Culpeper, VA 22701

Or e-mail to:

lharless@aswb.org

Keep in mind that to complete application to the program, potential writers will be asked at a later time to fill out a screening document that assesses time commitment to the work, and asks for several sample items.