ATSW Ethical Standards 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A parent demands that a teacher change their child's failing grade, threatening to escalate to the superintendent. The teacher should:
- Change the grade to avoid conflict
- Change the grade temporarily and restore it later
- Explain the grading criteria and maintain the accurate grade (Correct answer)
- Immediately refer all communication to the principal
Correct answer: Explain the grading criteria and maintain the accurate grade
Ethical assessment requires that grades reflect actual student performance; inflating grades under pressure is a form of academic dishonesty.
Question 2: Which situation most clearly represents a conflict of interest for a teacher?
- Tutoring a student from another school for pay
- Grading a family member who is enrolled in their class (Correct answer)
- Recommending a textbook written by a former professor
- Teaching a subject outside their primary certification area
Correct answer: Grading a family member who is enrolled in their class
Grading a family member creates a direct conflict of interest that compromises the objectivity required for fair assessment.
Question 3: A teacher becomes aware that a student is being bullied by peers online using school devices. The teacher's ethical obligation is to:
- Monitor the situation for a few days before acting
- Intervene immediately and report to administration per school policy (Correct answer)
- Speak only to the bully's parents
- Advise the victim to block the bully
Correct answer: Intervene immediately and report to administration per school policy
Cyberbullying on school devices falls within the school's jurisdiction, and teachers must report and respond promptly to protect student safety.
Question 4: A teacher's personal religious beliefs conflict with a required unit in the curriculum. The teacher should:
- Skip the unit and teach something else
- Teach the required curriculum objectively and professionally (Correct answer)
- Inform students of their personal beliefs before teaching the unit
- Request a permanent exemption from teaching that topic
Correct answer: Teach the required curriculum objectively and professionally
Teachers are professionally obligated to teach the approved curriculum objectively, even when it conflicts with personal beliefs.
Question 5: What does the ethical principle of 'due process' require when a teacher believes a student should be disciplined?
- Immediate removal from class with no explanation
- Ensuring the student is heard and that discipline follows established procedures (Correct answer)
- Consulting only with other teachers before deciding
- Deferring all discipline decisions to the principal
Correct answer: Ensuring the student is heard and that discipline follows established procedures
Ethical and legal standards require that students be given an opportunity to be heard and that discipline follow consistent, established procedures.
Question 6: A teacher suspects a student may have a learning disability but the family refuses testing. Ethically, the teacher should:
- Ignore the issue since the family declined
- Continue to document observations and provide appropriate classroom support (Correct answer)
- Require the family to consent to testing as a condition of enrollment
- Diagnose the student informally and make accommodations unilaterally
Correct answer: Continue to document observations and provide appropriate classroom support
Teachers should continue to document concerns and offer available classroom support while respecting family rights and consulting with specialists.
Question 7: Under which circumstance may a teacher ethically break a promise of confidentiality made to a student?
- When other students ask what was discussed
- When a parent requests the information
- When the student's safety or the safety of others is at risk (Correct answer)
- When administration directs the teacher to disclose
Correct answer: When the student's safety or the safety of others is at risk
Confidentiality can and must be breached when there is a credible risk of harm to the student or others.
ATSW Ethical Standards 4
A parent demands that a teacher change their child's failing grade, threatening to escalate to the superintendent.
The teacher should: