When is it Time to Say "GOODBYE" to EPAS 2015 Instruments?

When is it time to say "goodbye" to program assessment instruments that were designed under EPAS 2015 expectations?

CSWE officials have made it clear that programs are expected to comply fully with EPAS 2022 by July 1, 2025. If a program will not be in compliance with the EPAS 2022 standards by that date, they should contact their CSWE accreditation specialist immediately.

Many programs have already transitioned to EPAS 2022 standards for their curriculum, but are still making administrative related changes. A remaining question relates to when and how to transition to EPAS 2022 compliant assessment instruments.

It is important to note that there are NOT many major changes between EPAS 2015 and EPAS 2022 related to program assessment. You can see the differences in the "crosswalk" document authored by CSWE and found HERE.

The major changes include:

1. One of the measures of student performance of competence related to the explicit curriculum must be "based in real or simulated demonstration of student achievement in field education". For most programs, this is not a significant change in practice. The vast majority of programs have long used a field/placement/practicum evaluation as one of their measures of their students' competency related to their explicit curriculum. 
2.  Assessment needs to reflect the changes to the language of CSWE social work competencies 2 & 3. The order of competencies 2 and 3 was switched (ie. 2 is now 3; 3 is now 2), AND “Racial Justice” added to the new competency 2. The new tiel of competency 3 is: “Engage Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI) in Practice.”
3. The required assessment of the program's implicit curriculum must now include a systematic plan and report on the assessment ADEI efforts within the program’s implicit curriculum connected to one or more ADEI efforts identified by a program under AS 2.0.2.
4. Programs now have an additional requirement to report on a) Graduate Rates and a choice of b) employment rates, c) higher education acceptance rates, or d)
   time to program completion.

So, what do programs HAVE to do differently in practice?

PROBABLY NOT TOO MUCH...

• If your program is using program designed measures of explicit curriculum competency, it is important to review those measures, and realign to EPAS 2022 standards. The SWEAP Curriculum Instrument and the SWEAP Field Instrument have both been updated to meet EPAS 2022 standards. If you have remaining unused SWEAP instruments under the EPAS 2015 standards, it is recommended that you trade them in for credit, and order EPAS 2022 instruments. (If you're unsure how to do this, please contact ask@sweapinstruments.org.)
• Your program should ensure you can identify your programs ADEI efforts through the implicit curriculum, and how you are assessing those efforts. The SWEAP Exit Instrument and SWEAP ADEI Instrument are both effective tools to use to assess ADEI efforts to meet EPAS 2022. 
• In the year up to when your EPAS 2022 related self-study is due, make sure you develop a relationship with your institutional research department. They will help you access graduate rate information. They can also, usually, help you calculate a time to program completion statistic. 

LASTLY, SWEAP RECOMMENDS THAT PROGRAMS MOVE ASAP TO ASSESSMENT MEASURES THAT ARE EPAS 2022 COMPLIANT. That is why SWEAP will no longer sell instruments designed to meet EPAS 2015 after July 1, 2025. If you believe your program still needs EPAS 2015 instrument after that date, please contact us to discuss.

Do you have questions about these points? 

Come to our next Consultant Corner meeting (details at our LinkedIn page), or schedule a consultation by emailing ask@sweapinstruments.org