EDC Professional Ethics & Standards 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A diagnostician discovers that a previous evaluation for a student contained significant scoring errors. What is the ethical obligation?
- Ignore it since the IEP is already in place
- Disclose the errors to the team and conduct a re-evaluation if needed (Correct answer)
- Quietly correct the file without notifying anyone
- Wait until the next triennial review to address it
Correct answer: Disclose the errors to the team and conduct a re-evaluation if needed
Ethical standards require diagnosticians to disclose errors that may have impacted educational decisions and take corrective action.
Question 2: Which principle best describes the duty to protect a student's assessment data from unauthorized disclosure?
- Beneficence
- Nonmaleficence
- Confidentiality (Correct answer)
- Fidelity
Correct answer: Confidentiality
Confidentiality is the ethical principle that governs the protection of student records and assessment data from unauthorized parties.
Question 3: A diagnostician is asked to evaluate a student whose parent is a close personal friend. The most ethical course of action is to:
- Proceed since professional skills remain unaffected
- Disclose the relationship and recuse if objectivity is compromised (Correct answer)
- Ask a colleague to observe and co-sign the report
- Only evaluate the student if the friend requests it in writing
Correct answer: Disclose the relationship and recuse if objectivity is compromised
Personal relationships create potential conflicts of interest, and the diagnostician must disclose the relationship and step aside if impartiality cannot be ensured.
Question 4: Under IDEA, when must parental consent be obtained in the evaluation process?
- Only before sharing results with outside agencies
- Before conducting the initial evaluation and before each reevaluation (Correct answer)
- Only before placement decisions are made
- Before any IEP meeting is scheduled
Correct answer: Before conducting the initial evaluation and before each reevaluation
IDEA requires written parental consent before the initial evaluation and before conducting any reevaluation of the student.
Question 5: A school district pressures a diagnostician to qualify a student for services based on budget considerations rather than evaluation data. The diagnostician should:
- Comply to maintain employment
- Qualify the student but note reservations privately
- Refuse and report the pressure through appropriate channels (Correct answer)
- Ask the principal to make the final determination
Correct answer: Refuse and report the pressure through appropriate channels
Diagnosticians must base eligibility decisions solely on evaluation data; external pressure to alter findings is an ethical violation that should be reported.
Question 6: Which of the following best illustrates the ethical standard of 'informed consent' in educational diagnostics?
- Sending home a permission slip without explanation
- Explaining the purpose, procedures, and potential uses of the evaluation in terms parents can understand (Correct answer)
- Obtaining a signature after the evaluation is complete
- Verbal agreement from the parent at a school meeting
Correct answer: Explaining the purpose, procedures, and potential uses of the evaluation in terms parents can understand
Informed consent requires that parents fully understand what will be done, why, and how results will be used before they agree.
Question 7: A diagnostician is asked by a teacher to share specific assessment scores about a student without parent authorization. The correct response is to:
- Share scores since the teacher works with the student
- Provide only general impressions, not scores
- Decline and explain that parental authorization or a legitimate educational need must be established (Correct answer)
- Share only if the teacher agrees to keep the information confidential
Correct answer: Decline and explain that parental authorization or a legitimate educational need must be established
Under FERPA, student records may only be shared with school officials who have a legitimate educational interest, and unauthorized disclosure is prohibited.
EDC Professional Ethics & Standards 2
A diagnostician discovers that a previous evaluation for a student contained significant scoring errors.
What is the ethical obligation?