NASP Ethical Problem-Solving Worksheet

Using this vignette, complete the worksheet attached:

You work closely with another school psychologist in your building, Dana (pseudonym), who has recently gone through a difficult divorce. Over the past month, you have noticed changes in Dana’s behavior, including frequent tardiness, disorganization, and missed deadlines.

On two occasions, you believe you detected the odor of alcohol during the school day. Recently, a teacher approached you privately, expressing concern that Dana seemed “not fully present” during a student meeting and may have made errors in an evaluation report.

You feel conflicted. Dana has always been a competent and respected colleague, and you are concerned about their well-being. At the same time, you are worried about student safety, quality of services, and ethical obligations. You are unsure whether to address the issue directly with Dana, report your concerns to administration, or take another course of action.

Guidance for Use of the NASP Ethical Problem-Solving Worksheet

This worksheet was designed to help school psychologists organize and document their process in arriving at decisions in challenging situations. By engaging in an intentional and thorough process, school psychologists can be confident that their decisions are based in sound, ethical reasoning.

General Considerations

• This worksheet is not intended to be a replacement for legal advice. At times, there are legal considerations in a situation that extend well beyond a school psychologist’s capacity.

• Not all cells in the worksheet will apply to every situation. Some situations will include elements not found in the cells. The worksheet is designed to provide a structure on which to build. Tips for Using the Worksheet

Describe the problem situation.

• Protect confidentiality: Avoid using personally identifiable information when making notes on the worksheet.

Define the potential ethical–legal issues involved.

• Generate hypotheses regarding the issues involved in terms of the source of the dilemma.

Consult available ethical and legal guidelines.

• Identify and record specific standards and statues related to the hypotheses.

• The following resources can be helpful in identifying legal and ethical issues:

  • NASP Professional Practice Standards. https://www.nasponline.org/standards-and-certification/professionalethics

  • U.S. Department of Education, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. https://sites.ed.gov/idea/

  • U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights: Protecting Students with Disabilities, FAQ about Section 504 and students with disabilities https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/504faq.html

  • U.S. Department of Education, Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html

  • State Departments of Education websites https://www2.ed.gov/about/contacts/state/index.html

Consider all factors pertinent to the situation.

• Attend to analyze cultural and equity issues related to the situation. Consider if additional information needs to be gathered regarding increasing knowledge of cultural and/or diversity concerns.

• Analyze personal biases that may complicate analysis of the situation.

Confer with supervisors and colleagues.

• Identify those with whom you will discuss the situation. These are the individuals with whom you will work to generate your solution to the ethical dilemma, not the persons involved in the situation.

• Some of those identified on the worksheet may not apply to a specific situation, some may share more than one of the suggested roles.

• Consider using roles as identifiers rather than names, or use initials or first names to avoid identifying the student involved.

Some examples:

• Identify administrative supervisor(s) to be consulted—immediate supervisor, directors, assistant superintendent, principal.

• Identify clinical supervisor(s) to be consulted—current and/or previous supervisors of one’s practice, previous intern and/or practicum supervisors.

• Identify professional colleagues to be consulted—NASP staff and volunteer leaders, NASP Communities participants, state association leaders, school psychology faculty members, in-system school psychologists, out of system school psychologists.

• Identify professional resources to be consulted—NASP website, including position papers, advocacy resources, Best Practices volumes, school psychology journals, Communiqué, handouts.

Evaluate the rights, responsibilities, and welfare of all affected parties.

• Think through and record the considerations for all parties involved. Not all parties listed will be involved in all situations, and, similarly, sometimes others will be involved who are not included in the list.

Consider alternative solutions and the likely consequences of each.

• Generate and record several resolutions to the dilemma. Think through the consequences of each, including those which do not immediately seem like an appropriate course of action. This critical step will help ensure that all aspects of the situation are considered.

Select a course of action and assume responsibility for this decision

 Once a decision has been made, write it down, read it, and reread it. If the decision is something you feel reflects all the steps of the process and is aligned with the various parameters, proceed to generating next steps in moving forward. If the decision does not meet these criteria, revisit the various steps until an acceptable decision is reached.

NASP Ethics and Professional Practices

Problem Solving Worksheet

1.  Describe the problem situation.

2.  Consult available ethical and legal guidelines.

3.   Consider, to the best of your ability, all factors pertinent to the decision.

 4.  Confer with supervisors, colleagues, others.

5.  Evaluate the rights, responsibilities, and welfare of all affected parties.

6.  Consider alternative solutions and the likely consequences of each.

7.  Select a course of action and assume responsibility for this decision.

Note. Created by the NASP Ethics and Professional Practices Board Chair Laurie Klose and Cochair Melissa Pearrow, 2020. Adapted from Professional ethics for school psychologists: A problem-solving model casebook (2nd ed.) by L. Armistead, B. B. Williams, & S. Jacob, 2011, National Association of School Psychologists. And from Principles for professional ethics, by the National Association of School Psychologists, 2010, National Association of School Psychologists.