An Archival Review of the National Code of Ethics for Medical Doctors, Lawyers and Mental Health Professionals as a Model for the Need and

Implementation of a National Code of Ethics for PreK-12 Educators and for the development of a Continuum of Responsibility across the Pre-Credential,

Credential and In-service Spectrum

Tonya Saheli, JD, MS

July 21, 2017

Objective

• To use four professional codes of ethics that as a model for a National Code of Ethics for K-12 Educators

• To use the four professional codes reviewed as a model develop a Continuum of Responsibility across the Pre-Credential, Credential and In-service Spectrum

Which Professor Codes Were Reviewed?

• National Professional Codes of Ethics for:

Lawyers (ABA)

Doctors (AMA)

Psychologists (APA)

Mental Health Professionals (ACA)

Why Were These Professions Chosen

• These Professions were chosen because there is an imbalance of power between the professionals in these professions and the populations served.

• This same power imbalance exists in the field of Pre-K-12 Education, where the educator is the one in power and the student is the weaker person in the relationship.

How Does Each Code Define Ethics

Each Code describes Ethics as a code of

conduct governing proper professional

behavior, which establishes the nature of

obligations owed to individuals and to society.

Format of the Codes

ABA-Code of

Ethics for

Lawyers

AMA-Code of

Ethics For

Medical

Doctors

APA-Code of

Ethics for

Psychologists

ACA-Code

of Ethics

for

Counselors

Divided into

8 sections

Divided into

10 sections

Divided into

10 sections

Divided into

9 Sections

Similar Trends in Each Code

• There are 4 Fundamental Ethical Principles in the discipline of Ethics:

• Principle of respect for autonomy

• Principle of nonmaleficence

• Principle of beneficence

• Principle of justice

• Each of the Professional Codes of Ethics Reviewed contained the 4 fundamental Ethical Principles above

The Need

In 2014 alone, there were 781 reported cases of teachers and other school employees accused or convicted of sexual relationships with students. Every week of 2014 has brought news of 15 young people, on average, who were sexually victimized by the educators entrusted with protecting them. That’s an abhorrent rate and a trend that deserves far more attention from school leaders and policy makers.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything

The Need

• On 6/19/15, NASDTEC published the MCEE (Model Code for Educator Ethics) and it has 5 categories but does only includes ¼ of the major ethical principles that are included in the 4 Professional Codes of Ethics reviewed in this study.

• The Code of Ethics for Lawyers, Medical Doctors, Psychologists and Counselors have been around for many years and this study found that because of this coupled with the fact that they all contain the 4 major ethical principles, the number of ethical claims brought annually are minimal when compared to that of ethical claims against educators.

• Thus, the 4 major ethical principles likely needs to be incorporated into the MCEE

The Need

Development of A Continuum of Responsibility

ABA-Code of

Ethics for

Lawyers

AMA-Code of

Ethics For

Medical Doctors

APA-Code of

Ethics for

Psychologists

ACA-Code of

Ethics for

Counselors

Professional

Responsibility Bar

Exam

Medical Ethics

Course

Completion

Requirement

Formal Ethics

Courses are

Required to be

Completed to

Renew License

Continual Legal

Education

Requiring certain

number of hours

of Ethics

Annually

Continual Legal

Education

Requiring certain

number of hours

of Ethics

Annually

Continual Legal

Education

Requiring certain

number of hours

of Ethics

Annually

Continual Legal

Education

Requiring certain

number of hours

of Ethics

Annually

Recommendations

• Develop the MCEE further to incorporate the

4 major principles of ethics as are included

in the 4 professional codes reviewed in this

study.

• Make an Ethics course or exam a requirement

for credentialing and connect it to the pre-

credentialing, credentialing and in-service

processes in Education.