St. Edward’s University Social Work Program
Interview Guide and Scoring Rubric
Senior Exit Exam
1. Describe the differences between social work and other helping
professions and provide examples of your identifying as a social worker.
Core competency 2.1.1 (Identify as a professional social worker and conduct oneself
accordingly)
Practice Behaviors:
Integrate the knowledge of history of the profession into practice
Advocate for client access to services
Personal reflection and self-correction for professional development
Attend to professional roles and boundaries
Demonstrate professional demeanor
Engage in career long learning
Use supervision and consultation
Scoring: Student should be able to list historical differences that shaped our
profession, the core values and ethics of social work and how they differ from other
professions, the focus on macro as well as micro and mezzo and the ability to
continually learn and grow and seek out such opportunities.
Excellent (5)
Good (4)
Average (3)
Poor (2)
Unacceptable (0)
2. Discuss the NASW Code of Ethics, specifically the values of the profession
and specific examples of ethical conduct and your ability to use these in the
field.
Core competency 2.1.2 (Apply social work ethical principles to guide professional
practice
Practice Behaviors:
Recognize and manage personal values to allow professional values to guide
practice
Make ethical decisions by applying the NASW Code of Ethics, and as applicable
IFSW?IASSW ethical principles
Tolerate ambiguity in resolving ethical dilemmas
Apply strategies of ethical reasoning to arrive at principle decisions.
Scoring: Student can list at least 4 of the six core values of the profession and
describe how they guide ethical behavior and standards of conduct. Examples from
the field should be given.
Excellent (5)
Good (4)
Average (3)
Poor (2)
Unacceptable (0)
3. Provide an example of case where you had to integrate multiple sources of
knowledge to provide assessment, prevention, intervention and evaluation of
a client and your work with them.
Core competency 2.1.3 (Apply Critical thinking to inform and communicate
professional judgments
Practice Behaviors:
Distinguish, appraise and integrate multiple sources of knowledge, including
research-based knowledge and practice wisdom
Analyze models of assessment, prevention, intervention and evaluation
Demonstrate effective oral and written communication
Scoring: Student can articulate such a situation and describe it orally and provide
examples of documentation of their efforts from the field.
Excellent (5)
Good (4)
Average (3)
Poor (2)
Unacceptable (0)
4. Choose two different cultural groups and how you applied your theoretical
understanding of oppression, discrimination, alienation, power and privilege
to your work with clients from those groups.
Core competency 2.1.4 (Engage diversity and difference in practice)
Practice Behaviors:
Recognize how a cultures structure and values may impact privilege and power
Gain self-awareness to eliminate the influence of personal biases and values in
working with diverse groups
Recognize and communicate understanding of the importance of difference in
shaping life experiences
View selves as learners and engage those with whom they work as informants
Scoring: Student should describe their own self-awareness and shift in
understanding based on learning about the effects of institutional racism, classism,
sexism, on clients. Student should further describe how such knowledge was used
to assess and intervene with clients.
Excellent (5)
Good (4)
Average (3)
Poor (2)
Unacceptable (0)
5. Define social and economic justice. Provide examples from practice that
demonstrate the lack of social and economic justice in society and discuss how
you advocated for clients to receive justice.
Core competency 2.1.5 (Advance human rights and social and economic justice)
Practice Behaviors:
Understand the forms and mechanisms of oppression
Advocate for human rights and social and economic justice
Engage in practices that advance social justice
Scoring: Student can articulate examples of oppression and discrimination in lives
of clients and describe efforts to fight for justice on their behalf against such
discriminatory systems.
Excellent (5)
Good (4)
Average (3)
Poor (2)
Unacceptable (0)
6. Describe an example of evidence based-practice from your internship.
Further, provide a research question you now wish to see answered as a result
of your internship.
Core competency 2.1.6 (Engage in research-informed practice and practiceinformed research)
Practice Behaviors:
Use practice experiences to inform scientific inquiry
Use research evidence to inform practice
Scoring: Student can define and provide example of evidence-based practice and
can clearly explain a situation they encountered in practice that warrants further
study to improve practices.
Excellent (5)
Good (4)
Average (3)
Poor (2)
Unacceptable (0)
7. Provide a discussion of three theories you learned in HBSE I and HBSE II
that were applicable and used by you in your assessment, intervention and
evaluation process with clients and/or agency.
Core competency 2.1.7 (Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social
environment)
Practice Behaviors:
Utilize conceptual frameworks to guide the processes of assessment, intervention
and evaluation
Critique and apply knowledge to understand persona and environment
Scoring: Student can provide not only a list of theories, but can clearly articulate an
understanding of those theories and their appropriate application to scenarios from
the field.
Excellent (5)
Good (4)
Average (3)
Poor (2)
Unacceptable (0)
8. Describe at least three social welfare policies/program at the federal
and/or state level that affected your clients. Discuss your efforts to make
those programs available and accessible to clients and/or to advocate for
change in policies when you saw problems.
Core competency 2.1.8 (Engage in policy practice to advance well-being and deliver
services)
Practice Behaviors:
Analyze, formulate and advocate for policies that advance social well-being
Collaborate with colleagues and clients for effective policy action
Scoring: Student can accurately describe programs in the areas of poverty, health
care, mental health, aging, disability, child welfare, etc. and discuss how those
programs affected clients. They can also articulate how they would make changes if
possible to better serve clients.
Excellent (5)
Good (4)
Average (3)
Poor (2)
Unacceptable (0)
9. Describe the changing contexts of practice in Austin, TX specifically and the
United States in general. What major things are impacting the ability to serve
clients, either positively or negatively? What suggestions would you make to
your agency to respond to those contexts?
Core competency 2.1.9 (Respond to contexts that shape practice)
Practice Behaviors:
Discover, appraise and attend to changing contexts to provide relevant services
Provide leadership in promoting changes in service delivery and practice to improve
service quality
Scoring: Student can elaborate on at least two major issues affecting practice (e.g.
increase in immigrant population; impending baby boomer retirement and the lack
of readiness in Austin) and discuss how Austin should address these issues. If
student was placed in another city, they may use that city as an example.
Excellent (5)
Good (4)
Average (3)
Poor (2)
Unacceptable (0)
10. Describe the generalist intervention model (each step and what happens
in each) and provide a case example to illustrate the process.
Core competency 2.1.10 (Engage, assess, intervene and evaluate with individuals,
families, groups, organizations, and communities
Practice behaviors:
Engagement)
Substantively and affectively prepare for action with individuals, families, groups,
organizations, and communities;
Use empathy and other interpersonal skills; and
Develop a mutually agreed-on focus of work and desired outcomes.
(Assessment)
Collect, organize, and interpret client data;
Assess client strengths and limitations;
Develop mutually agreed-on intervention goals and objectives; and
Select appropriate intervention strategies.
(Intervention)
initiate actions to achieve organizational goals;
Implement prevention interventions that enhance client capacities;
Help clients resolve problems;
Negotiate, mediate, and advocate for clients; and
Facilitate transitions and endings.
(Evaluation)
Critically analyze, monitor, and evaluate interventions
Adapt interventions during the course of work with clients when evaluation
indicates necessary changes to the plan or strategies.
Scoring: Student can present a case from engagement, assessment (and planning),
intervention, evaluation (and termination and follow-up) and describe the
meaningful practice behaviors done at each level by the social worker.
Excellent (5)
Good (4)
Average (3)
Poor (2)
Unacceptable (0)
Benchmark Score of 3 or higher is expected for graduating students for all 10 core
competencies. Note that the practice behaviors for each competency are imbedded
in the question and in the scoring criteria.