Texas School Social Workers: Demographics, Work Characteristics

School social workers have great potential to support schools and student learning.A study was conducted to examine the demographics, job services, and job responsibilities of Texas school social workers.A convergent parallel mixed method design was used to compare and discuss quantitative and qualitative data obtained.A survey was emailed to 476 Texas school social workers (TSSW) identified in an edited official state list.Data was received from 250 TSSWs.The data reveals consistency with existing school social work literature related to demographics and provides novel information on work and education characteristics of TSSWs.The findings on these topics support the importance of aligning social school worker job responsibilities and services to state policies, increasing understanding of the role of school social workers, and supporting legislative definition of TSSW.The implications of this study's findings can create major improvement to job definition, work services, and responsibilities of TSSWs, and, more importantly, the maximum success of all Texas students.