CSET Professional Standards & Ethics 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: During an IEP meeting, a parent becomes hostile and demands the teacher change a student's placement immediately. The teacher should:
- Agree to avoid conflict and schedule a follow-up later
- Explain that IEP decisions require the full team's consensus and legal procedures (Correct answer)
- Defer entirely to the special education coordinator
- Refuse to continue the meeting and reschedule
Correct answer: Explain that IEP decisions require the full team's consensus and legal procedures
IEP decisions are made collaboratively by the full team following IDEA procedures, not unilaterally by any one party.
Question 2: A teacher notices a peer is consistently late and appears impaired during instruction. The most ethical action is to:
- Ignore it as a personal matter
- Confront the colleague publicly in the staff lounge
- Report concerns to administration through appropriate channels (Correct answer)
- Gossip with other staff to gauge whether they have noticed
Correct answer: Report concerns to administration through appropriate channels
Professional ethics require reporting colleague misconduct through proper administrative channels to protect student welfare.
Question 3: Which action best exemplifies culturally responsive professional practice?
- Treating all students identically regardless of cultural background
- Integrating students' cultural contexts into instruction and communication with families (Correct answer)
- Translating only report cards into families' home languages
- Assigning a liaison to handle all communication with non-English-speaking families
Correct answer: Integrating students' cultural contexts into instruction and communication with families
Culturally responsive practice requires proactively incorporating students' cultural backgrounds into both instruction and family engagement.
Question 4: A teacher overhears two students making a plan to hurt a classmate. Under duty-to-warn obligations, the teacher must:
- Monitor the situation for a day before acting
- Inform administration immediately so protective action can be taken (Correct answer)
- Speak privately to the students and warn them of consequences
- Document the incident in a personal log without reporting
Correct answer: Inform administration immediately so protective action can be taken
Threats of harm trigger an immediate duty to warn, requiring the teacher to alert administration so the potential victim can be protected.
Question 5: Which behavior would be considered unethical under the California Code of Regulations for educators?
- Requiring students to redo incomplete work
- Engaging in a romantic relationship with a current student (Correct answer)
- Assigning letter grades based on academic performance
- Holding parent conferences after school hours
Correct answer: Engaging in a romantic relationship with a current student
Romantic relationships between educators and current students are explicitly prohibited and constitute serious professional misconduct.
Question 6: A teacher receives a gift worth $75 from a parent at the holidays. According to California ethics rules, the teacher should:
- Accept it since it is a personal gesture, not a bribe
- Decline or return the gift, as it exceeds typical ethical thresholds (Correct answer)
- Accept it and report it to the principal
- Share it with colleagues to avoid conflict of interest
Correct answer: Decline or return the gift, as it exceeds typical ethical thresholds
California ethics guidelines restrict the value of gifts teachers may accept to avoid the appearance of favoritism or improper influence.
Question 7: A student's parent requests access to their child's cumulative school file. Under FERPA, the school must:
- Deny access because files are confidential school property
- Provide access within 45 days of the request (Correct answer)
- Allow access only if the student consents
- Require the parent to obtain a court order first
Correct answer: Provide access within 45 days of the request
FERPA grants parents the right to inspect education records and schools must provide access within 45 days of a request.
CSET Professional Standards & Ethics 3
During an IEP meeting, a parent becomes hostile and demands the teacher change a student's placement immediately.
The teacher should: