Practice analysis

Why analyze practice?

The practice analysis is critical for ensuring that the content of each exam is relevant to current professional practice and reflects the expertise of a diverse group of subject matter experts.

Survey responses from thousands of practicing social workers shape the blueprints for the exams — the social work content areas in which questions are asked and the number of questions in the content areas.

A practice analysis that covers the full range of applied knowledge needed for safe, competent, and ethical entry-level social work practice and uses input from a statistically significant number of respondents is the basis for the construction of valid examinations.

Current exam blueprints

Until the next iteration of exams is published in 2026, the social work licensing exams for every category continue to reflect the 2017 Practice Analysis.

About the 2024 Practice Analysis

ASWB conducted its seventh analysis of the practice of social work in 2024, collecting a usable sample of 25,263 responses from every U.S. and Canadian jurisdiction. The survey asked about the applied knowledge needed to practice social work safely and ethically at entry to practice.

This survey will form the basis of the next iteration of the social work licensing exams, which will be released in 2026.

How the blueprints are changing

Next step: The passing score study

With support from psychometricians, ASWB will conduct a standard-setting workshop in late 2025. The expert panel will review anchor exams for each exam category, take the assessment, rate each item for probability that it would be answered correctly, and discuss minimum competence in the content measured. The panelists’ input will then be used to compute the passing standard — the point on which pass–fail determinations are made — for the anchor exam.