Evaluation of Training Content by Expert Judgment: The North Carolina Curriculum Review Project

1. Evaluation of Training Content by Expert Judgment: The North Carolina Curriculum Review Project Dr. Elizabeth Lindsey UNC Greensboro Department of Social Work

2. N.C. Curriculum Review Project • In-depth curriculum review of 2 or more curricula by trainers and curriculum developers including • Reading curricula • Attending training • Completion of a Global Template that identifies important elements for review • Comparison of curriculum content with policy and other curricula • Facilitation of review process by university consultant

3. Purposes of Curriculum Review • Ensure child welfare curriculum adherence to policy • Identifying instances of inconsistency or unnecessary duplication between curricula • Documenting how training addresses CSFR outcomes and other elements of interest as well as gaps in training • Assessment of attendance and satisfaction data for specific training courses

4. Precipitants of Curriculum Review • Reorganization of training system in 1998, including addition of many new courses • Child welfare reform • Multiple (Alternative) Response System based on 7 specific strategies • Application of family-centered and system of care principles to child welfare practice • Training as systemic factor in CFSR reviews

5. Global Template • Evaluation of specific elements for each curriculum • Family-centered principles of partnership • Diversity • CFSR outcomes • MRS strategies • Comparison of competencies and learning objectives between curricula • Participant satisfaction data • Training attendance data • Other elements • Overlap, redundancy • Language and terms • Policy • Practice

6. Process of Curriculum Review • Training manager identifies curricula to be reviewed and reviewers • Facilitator convenes meeting to discuss process, facilitator takes and distributes minutes • Reviewers • receive and review copies of all curricula • attend trainings (participant/observer) • complete Global Template on all curricula • Entire work group meets to discuss the reviews and agree on modifications • Reviewers • revise Global Template with feedback • revise curricula and submit to training manager • Facilitator writes final report, including final versions of Global Templates

7. Inconsistency: Where, When, and How to Interview Children • Forensic approach • Court as a primary client • Tends to “err” on side of child safety • Children interviewed “alone” (outside the vicinity of parents) • Family assessment approach • Family as primary client • Tends to “err” on side of parents • Children can be interviewed “alone” (in another room than parents)

8. Recommendations • Clarify how CFI fits into overall family assessment and how social worker makes judgment about when, where, and how to interview children • Clarify when different approaches to interviewing children are most appropriate • Change language in one curriculum because same language is used differently in the other

9. Family-Centered Meetings and Shared Parenting • Confusion about various meetings • Family-centered meetings (FCMs) • Child and Family Team Meetings (CFTMs) • Team Decision-making Meetings (TDMs)

10. What is shared parenting? • Is it a meeting or a process? • Initial meeting cannot occur during a Child and Family Team Meeting because purpose is relationship development • First CFTM takes time to organize; SP meeting must be held within 7 days of placement • After initial SP meeting, CFTMs can be considered as a part of the SP process

11. Policy Recommendations • Policy should more clearly define and describe shared parenting • Policy should clarify that SP contacts can be made at CFTMs as long as purposes of SP are addressed (but not initial SP meeting)

12. Curricular Recommendations • Need to combine 2 curricula dealing with working with foster parents • Clarify relationship between CFTMS and shared parenting • Add strategies for operationalizing family-centered principles • Add practical material on how to “do” shared parenting • Documentation

13. Benefits of Curriculum Review • Brings together different perspectives • Highlights misunderstandings of concepts, terms, policy • Opportunity to resolve tensions around practice differences • Highlights needs for policy clarification • Highlights instances when same activities and/or handouts are used in trainings