As you learned in this module’s presentation and readings, school districts, state lawmakers, and professional organizations each attempt to legislate ethics in some fashion. While their policies and statutes serve as guides for educators, they cannot cover every possible scenario. As a result, school leaders must have a personal moral compass that guides ethical decision-making.
In this module’s analysis assignment, you will look first at professional codes of ethics that are in place and then use them as models as you develop a personal code of ethics. You will reflect on a professional situation in which ethics, resource management, and accountability were related.
View/Download the Template Tables
download
Word document for use in this assignment.
Complete Parts 1, 2, and 3 and compose your responses in a single, 5- to 7-page Word document (not including the title and references pages). Use the part titles as subheadings.
Write an introduction and conclusion for your paper.
Use APA format for the title page, references page, and in-text citations.
Note: This assignment’s rubric is specifically designed to assess specific skills and knowledge related to your program. Please review all rubrics carefully prior to submission.
Part 1: District Code of Ethics
A school district’s code of ethics usually contains information on categories of ethics violations, such as nepotism, secondary employment, gift/sponsorship, prohibited political activity, and business and financial interests. Usually, the code contains specific examples of violations, their associated penalties, and the procedure for reporting/filing a complaint. For an example, access the Texas Administrative Code
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In this part of the assignment, you will identify and analyze the key components of a school district’s code of ethics.
Step 1. Obtain a copy of a school district’s code of ethics, preferably from your own district.
Step 2. Create and complete a District Code of Ethics Analysis chart. You may create the table yourself, or use the template provided in the Template Tables document. Add rows if necessary.
Step 3. Answer each question about the school district’s code of ethics in a well-developed paragraph.
What other key topics are included in the school district’s code of ethics?
What is the district policy on reporting and filing complaints about unethical behavior?
Part 2: National Professional Code of Ethics
The “Code of Ethics/Statement of Ethics” of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) sets high standards for all educational leaders. In Part 2 of the Analysis, you will access the AASA’s Code of Ethics/Statement of Ethics and summarize and reflect on its contents.
Step 1. Access the American Association of School Administrators’ Code of Ethics
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Step 2. Respond to each prompt/question about the AASA’s Code of Ethics in a well-developed paragraph.
Summarize AASA’s Code of Ethics.
In what ways does the AASA’s Code of Ethics align with the school district’s code of ethics? How does it differ?
Select one of the AASA’s statements of standards, and describe how it applies to you personally.
Part 3: My Personal Code of Ethics
So far, you have analyzed a district’s code of ethics and summarized the American Association of School Administrators’ Code of Ethics. Consider these codes and how they impact your role as a school leader. Using the codes as models, you will now develop your own personal code of ethics in three well-developed paragraphs, one paragraph per question.
First, specify a minimum of five ethical behaviors that guide you as a professional educator. For example, you might note punctuality as an ethical behavior. For each behavior, use the behavior in a defining sentence. For example, “punctuality is an important work ethic that is respectful of other people’s time.”
Describe a time in your professional life when ethics, resource management, and accountability were related.
Why is it important for you as a school leader to establish your own “moral compass” and personal code of ethics?
Why is it important to begin a study of resource management and allocation with a discussion of ethics?
I have put together some Tips for Success:
1) REVIEW the RUBRICS for each assignment. One area students oftentimes omit are introductions and conclusions. Write them!
2) Do the work now! When you reach the Capstone Course, you will be that much farther ahead.
3) LOOK AHEAD at all assignments. You will want to send emails now to your principal/administrator to help with some of your assignments due in a few weeks. If at any time you need support or guidance on how a paper should look, please reach out to me for a sample.
4) Follow APA 7th edition rules for headings–Please refer to my Instructor Studio. I am placing some supports there to help.
Follow APA rules for the reference page (this is a dedicated page, bold font, and sources in alphabetical order and are double spaced with hanging indents).
Follow APA rules for in-text citations (remember to include quotation marks and page numbers for direct quotes). Here is a link to help you (I do expect you to use and follow the rules). –Please also refer to my Instructor Studio where I am placing some supports.
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html
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5) As you look ahead at the requirements for this course, understand that assignments build off one another. Therefore, as you are researching, save articles and notes. This may help you in the end. This includes discussions for each of the modules.
6) Please note: Throughout all of our discussions during the course, I may not personally reach each of you each week, though I am reading each of your posts to one another. If you ever have a question for me, please feel free to post on our Q & A board so I don’t miss it!
7) Please pay attention to your TurnItIn similarity scores. Your goal needs to be in the green zone (under 25%). Anything beyond this prompts me to review your paper for possible plagiarism. Many times students are found to have a higher percentage by not citing their own work. If you use work from a past assignment (which should be limited), you must cite your own work.
8) Be sure to INCLUDE a TITLE for ALL assignments. Titles will include bold font, per APA 7.
9) You no longer need to include a running head but DO INCLUDE page numbers
10) Note the change for how to format your Title page
How to Cite Yourself to avoid self -plagiarism
If you cite or quote your previous work, treat yourself as the author and your own previous course work as an unpublished paper.
For example, if Marie Briggs wanted to cite a paper she wrote at ACE in 2012, her citation might look like this:
Briggs (2012) asserted that previous literature on the psychology of tightrope walkers was faulty in that it “presumed that risk-taking behaviors align neatly with certain personality traits or disorders” (p. 4).
And in the reference list:
Briggs, M. (2012). An analysis of personality theory. Unpublished manuscript, American College of Education.
*Don’t forget hanging indents
If your original work contained citations from other sources, you will need to include those same citations in the new work as well, per APA. If Marie Briggs’s earlier paper had cited Presley and Johnson, for example, it would look like this:
According to Briggs (2012), recent psychologists such as “Presley and Johnson (2009) too quickly attributed risk-taking to genetic factors, ignoring the social family issues that often influence the decision to explore pursuits such as tightrope walking” (p. 5).
8) Note that there is NO discussion board assignment for Week 5; however, you will be completing your Benchmark Assessment paper. In EL5723, Resource and Fiscal Management, students must earn an 80% on the benchmark assignment in the course (Module 5 Final Summative Assignment). Students who do not earn 80% will be automatically enrolled in ASMT5080 where two additional attempts will be allowed. More to come on the Benchmark Assessment in a separate announcement.
9) Please note: we want to avoid the second person (you/your) in all scholarly writing.
10) As I read through your weekly assignments, I will embed comments into your papers that will be positive and constructive. I will also point out some APA errors to help you improve as you move forward to your next classes. To view instructor comments, please see these helpful guides on how to do so:
http://guides.instructure.com/m/4212/l/54359-how-do-i-view-instructor-comments
http://guides.instructure.com/m/4212/l/352349-how-do-i-view-assignment-feedback-comments-from-my-instructor-using-crocodoc-annotations
11) Know that I am here to help you succeed in this course. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask. Feel free to email me at any time at Jacqueline.OMara@ace.edu. If there is an emergency, certainly call me. (216.469.8745).
Refer to the following links for support:
*When I grade, I first scan for proper APA formatting. I read a second time for content.
Link to writing center – https://ace.instructure.com/courses/860602/pages/writing-center-home
Link to APA 7th edition – https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html
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Please review the following to correctly create a References page. Jump ahead to 6:20 in the video.
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