Overview of theASWB Licensure Exam

Vince Coraci, LMSWDirector of Member Services & Development

NASW-Michigan Chapter

Exam Details

• 170 Multiple choice questions (4 answers)– 150 questions count toward your score– 20 questions are “test” questions

• Four hours to complete the exam

• Computer administered & scored

• Passing score: 75% (113 questions)

Structure of the Exams

• Each exam is organized into content areas, competencies, and KSA statements.

• KSA: “Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities”– KSA’s describe the discrete knowledge

components that may be tested in each part of the examination, and are the basis for individual test questions.

Bachelor’s Exam

• Human Development, Diversity, and Behavior in the Environment – 27%

• Assessment – 28%

• Direct and Indirect Practice – 26%

• Professional Relationships, Values, and Ethics – 19%

Advanced Generalist Exam

• Human Development, Diversity, and Behavior in the Environment – 18%

• Micro Assessment and Planning – 22%

• Micro Practice and Social Work Relationships – 18%

• Macro Practice – 18%

• Professional Values and Ethics – 24%

Clinical Exam

• Human Development, Diversity, and Behavior in the Environment – 31%

• Assessment, Diagnosis and Treatment Planning – 26%

• Psychotherapy, Clinical Interventions and Case Management – 25%

• Professional Ethics and Values – 18%

What to Expect on Exam Day

• High security– Fingerprint– Palm scan of both hands– Picture– Provide two IDs

• No food/drink in exam room

• No outside materials allowed

• Breaks allowed – but test time will not stop

Tips & Strategies

• STUDY!– Take a exam prep course– Study the material (3 months)– Take a practice exam (or more than one)

• Try to mimic exam setting (timed, quiet, etc.)

• Don’t try to ACE the exam– You just have to PASS!

Practice Question #1

• In a beginning interview with a client, the purpose of asking questions is to:– 1) Probe the client’s unconscious feelings.– 2) Obtain information about the presenting

problem.– 3) Direct and focus the client’s conversation

on the client’s personal and family history.– 4) Find out if the client really wants help.

Answer

• The correct answer is 2.– Understanding the presenting problem as the

client experiences it is the first step in a social work intervention.

Practice Question #2• A college student who is considering a leave of

absence from school meets with a social worker in the college counseling office for help in deciding what to do. The student presents her ambivalence about school, her other options, and her parents’ disapproval of her not graduating “on time”. The social worker’s professional behavior toward the client should incorporate:– 1) agreement with the client to build confidence– 2) remaining impassive to encourage the client to think for

herself– 3) showing feelings freely to foster spontaneous interaction– 4) avoiding fixed positions and preestablished attitudes

Answer

• The correct answer is 4.– It is not clinically effective for the social worker

to be dishonest, or to have an inflexible style for approaching clients. The social worker’s approach should reflect treatment theory, clinical goals, and be responsive to the client’s presentation.

Practice Question #3

• In Piaget’s framework, the first stage of cognitive development is called the:– 1) objectless stage– 2) sensory motor stage– 3) oral stage– 4) autistic stage

Answer

• The correct answer is 2.– In Piaget’s framework of development the first

stage is called the sensory motor stage lasting from birth until age 2. This stage is so named because infants lack language and therefore their experience of the world, is through their physical beings…

Practice Question #4

• “Man on the Street” interviews are an example of:– 1) stratified sampling– 2) haphazard, unsystematic sampling– 3) quote sampling– 4) random sampling

Answer

• The correct answer is 2.– “Man on the Street” interviews are

unsystematic in that they are haphazard and unplanned. Stratified sampling refers to samples taken from predetermined categories and random sampling refers to the equal chance of all persons or elements in the population to have an equal chance of being selected. Choice 3 is a nonsense statement.

Practice Question #5

• From the agency’s perspective, the most important objective of supervision is to:– 1) educate workers– 2) assist clients– 3) promote agency goals– 4) promote worker autonomy

Answer

• The correct answer is 3.– While all the answers are plausible, the

primary reason an agency offers supervision is to promote agency goals. The other responses are also essential to agency goals, but they are not broad enough.

Practice Question #6

• One commitment that is implicit in the NASW Code of Ethics is that:– 1) a social worker’s obligation to the client takes

primacy over obligations to the employer– 2) a client represented by a social worker takes

primacy over society as a whole or other aggrieved individuals

– 3) advocacy for one’s client takes universal preference over institutional change

– 4) mobilization of clients is secondary to advocacy by social workers

Answer

• The correct answer is 1.– The NASW Code of Ethics emphasizes that

the client has the highest claim on the social worker’s ethical agenda.