A Social Worker's Guide to Evaluating Practice Outcomes

How do we determine the outcomes of social work services? Thyer and Myers have written an easy-to-read primer on the topic of empirically evaluating the outcomes of social work practice. This resource, for social work students, graduate and undergraduate, and for social work practitioners, presents outcome studies using both group-research and single-case designs. Unlike other books dealing with the topic of evaluating practice, which use theoretical cases, Thyer and Myers use real-life examples of evaluating social work practice, ranging from those fairly low on the scale of internal validity to those that are pretty rigorous. The book begins with a refresher on evaluation research, provides a balanced approach to both single-system and group-evaluation designs, and closes with a discussion of ethical issues, myths, misconceptions, and practical considerations in evaluation.

Council on Social Work Education

We are a nonprofit national association representing individual members and graduate and undergraduate programs of professional social work education. Founded in 1952, this partnership of educational and professional institutions, social welfare agencies, and private citizens is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation as the sole accrediting agency for social work education in this country.

CSWE Press is a niche publisher that addresses the needs of social work educators. Some of our areas of publishing specialty are

-The philosophy, theory, and practice of teaching
-The process and evaluation of learning
-The organization and structure of social work education
-Diversity in all forms in social work practice and education
-Social work in multiple contexts

Bruce A. Thyer has been an LCSW in Florida and Michigan and is the immediate past dean of the School of Social Work at Florida State University. He has authored or co-authored more than 220 articles in professional journals, over 60 book chapters, and has produced more than 20 books. Dr. Thyer has served in elected national leadership roles with the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR), the Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work (GADE), and the CSWE. He is the founder and current editor of the bimonthly journal, Research on Social Work Practice. Laura L. Myers has authored more than 20 journal articles and eight book chapters in field of professional social work. She is the managing editor of the journal, Research on Social Work Practice. Dr. Myers is currently an assistant professor of social work at Thomas University, located in Thomasville, Georgia.