Evaluating an MSW Program Using a Competency Based Comprehensive Exam

Background and purpose: Social work education has shifted from knowledge-based to competency-based learning where curriculum is designed so explicit objectives are identified in order to evaluate student competence (CSWE, 2022; Guo et al., 2016). The Council on Social Work Education’s (CSWE) Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) defines social work competencies as “measurable practice behaviors that are comprised of knowledge, values, and skills” (CSWE, 2008, p. 3). EPAS identified nine core competencies with associated knowledge, values, skills, and measurable practice behaviors for each of the competencies (CSWE, 2022).

Competency is the ability to deliberately choose and apply a repertoire of knowledge and skills within the unique context of professional practice (Govaerts, 2008). Along with knowing and performing, competency also requires strategy and personal ability (Sandberg & Pinnington, 2009) to apply knowledge and skill to practice while working within a specific environment (Guo et al., 2016).

Assessment is an integral component of competency-based education and essential in understanding if student learning outcomes were met. Although assessment has been used to understand if a student met the learning outcomes associated with EPAS, and for program improvement, no known endeavor has investigated differences in how successful completion of competencies vary in terms of the Master of Social Work (MSW) graduate’s race/ethnicity, whether advanced or regular standing, the program modality, and differences across competency scores. This proposal investigates the level of competence of MSW students based on their demographic background and types of programs.

Methods: As part of the graduation requirement for the MSW program, students are required to successfully complete a competency based comprehensive exam comprised of 110 questions distributed across all 9 competencies. Students have two hours to complete the exam and must score 70% to successfully pass. Using scores of MSW students (N=809) from 2019 – 2022 who took the competency based comprehensive exam, this study investigated the association of student demographic and program characteristics with competency scores. The majority of students were advanced standing (64%), returning learners (72%), and online (72%), and identified as non-Hispanic (93%), white (80%), and female (89%).

Results: The average score of MSW students was 80.88% (SD = 7.67) with highest scores on competency three (M=88.99%, SD= 10.56) and lowest in competency eight (M= 77.22%, SD= 14.60). Advanced standing students scored significantly lower than the regular standing students (t (772) = 1.79, p = .037). There was also a significant difference between program modalities (t (772) = -1.99, p = .024) with students in the hybrid program typically scoring higher than their counterparts. There was no statistical difference between gender or age. Additional analyses will determine if other aspects may impact likelihood of success on the exam.

Conclusion: Social work programs must conduct evaluations to determine if students are able to meet accreditation competencies and program learning outcomes. However, understanding individual level characteristics that might create disparities in outcomes for students needs to be better examined, particularly in the context of the discrepancies noted in the social work licensure exam scores related to race and ethnicity.