2. Objectives and Expectations
Objectives
• Outline the ethical expectations for educational professionals to
maintain child safety & confidentiality, as well as procedures for
reporting abuse/neglect
Expectations
• Participants should take notes to help them remember
• Participants should record specific questions for their school
• Participants should share questions they suspect apply to the whole
group
3. What are professional ethics?
The word "ethics" comes from a Greek term meaning "duty". Thus, a code of ethics
consists of all the obligations that professionals must respect when carrying out
their duties. It includes the core values of the profession and the behavior which
should be adopted; it's a code of professional conduct.
Essentially, ethics are the moral obligations for professionals. Sometimes these moral
obligations are also backed up by federal or state laws and regulations, and
sometimes they are guided just by the idea of “professional norms.”
Can anyone think of other professions that have a “code of ethics” ?
4. Who is responsible for demonstrating ethical behavior?
All members of The Literacy Lab community who
have direct or indirect contact with children,
including tutors, staff, board members, and
volunteers, are responsible for demonstrating ethical
behavior, for keeping children safe and protecting
them from harm.
5. Child, defined…
A child is any person under 18 years of age with
whom a member of The Literacy Lab community
has direct or indirect contact through their
involvement with The Literacy Lab. This includes
but is not limited to students receiving tutoring
services, other students in Literacy Lab schools,
children present at community service events,
etc.
6. Impact of Ethical Behavior
While working with children in a school or other setting, it is important to
maintain professionalism in order to:
– Effectively support student learning,
– Provide a good role model for children & other adults
– Ensure private student information is kept private,
– Ensure issues of concern are reported only to the designated personnel
in the setting, and not other adults in the setting or in the community
– Uphold strong professional reputation of the Literacy Lab, maintain
positive relationships with colleagues, establish trust.
– Keep our students safe
7. Selected Topics: Ethical
Behavior for Educational
Professionals
• Child Safety
• Professional Boundaries
• Child Confidentiality
• Data Privacy & Record Management
• Mandated Reporting
8. Child Safety: Child Protection Principles
The Literacy Lab believes:
• Child safety is of paramount importance, and
children must be kept safe and protected from
harm at all times.
• All children, regardless of age, gender, race,
national origin, disability, religious belief, sexual
orientation or identity, are due equal protection
from harm.
• Every child should feel valued, safe, and happy.
9. Child Safety: How do we keep children safe?
Policies and Procedures:
• Volunteer and employee
screening, including criminal
history checks & accompaniment
requirements
• Code of conduct
• Anti-bullying policy
• Mandated reporting & cooperation
with state and federal laws
• Child confidentiality
Adult Behavior and Conduct:
• Valuing, listening to, and
respecting children
• Preventing and reducing
risks
• Setting and respecting
boundaries
• Living the Literacy Lab core
values
10. Setting and Respecting Physical Boundaries
The Literacy Lab has outlined the following expectations to keep both tutors
and students safe from harm and suspicion.
Tutors should not:
– allow students to sit in their laps
– pick students up to move them
– physically restrain students for any reason
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11. Setting and Respecting Professional Boundaries
Parents and students are consumers of the services offered by
Literacy Lab tutors
Professional boundaries must be preserved in every situation. In
some communities Literacy Lab tutors may be neighbors, attend
the same church, or have children in the same schools. It is
especially important in these situations to be clear about
professional boundaries.
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“I can’t talk about the students I work with”
12. Professional Boundaries: 9 Essentials
1) Don’t talk about the students you work with outside of the school setting.
2) Don’t chat in the teacher’s lounge or workroom about students and their
needs, abilities, disabilities or personal lives.
3) Don’t become friends with students on Facebook, Instagram, or any
other social media.
4) Don’t give students your phone number. Do not call, text, or
communicate using any social media with students
5) Don’t photograph or video your students. Know the policy for your
school. Many families invoke the DO NOT PHOTOGRAPH policy for their child
for privacy reasons.
13. 9) If a parent or community member has questions about The Literacy Lab, encourage
them to contact the Internal coach.
Professional Boundaries: 9 Essentials
6) Do not mention names of students you service to other adults in the community,
or at your place of work, this is confidential.
7) Do not mention names of students you service to teachers that are not the child’s
teacher, this is confidential.
8) Always speak with parents in a professional manner if you see them in the
community. If they ask about their child, suggest they come to school to meet with
you, the coach and teacher to review their child’s progress, rather than speak with
you in a public place.
14. Confidentiality
All school staff are required by law to keep
student and family information confidential.
Information regarding the student should
only be shared with teachers and staff who
work directly with the student and have a
“need to know.”
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy
Act (FERPA) addresses the issues of parental
rights, and controls access to records and
the confidentiality of those records. The
intent of the law is to protect the privacy of
the students and parents. These rights are
automatically granted to parents unless
there is evidence of divorce, separation, or
custody (Federal Law: P.L. 90-247).
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15. Child Confidentiality: Data Privacy
Data privacy laws address the access to or the exchange of personally identifiable
information regarding a student. Information access or exchange includes verbal or
written communication of information involving, but not limited to face-to-face
conversations, telephone conversations, letters, notes, email, video tape, audio recordings,
etc.
Types of Student Data
Public Data - that data which is available to the general public, also referred to as
directory information. Directory information means information contained in an
education record of a student that would not generally be considered harmful or an
invasion of privacy if disclosed.
Private Data - that data which is not available to the general public but is accessible
to the parents, or an eligible student (age 18 or older) and to school district and
other agents as authorized by law.
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16. Child Confidentiality: Defining Private Data
● Education Records - records that are directly related to a student
maintained by an educational agency/institution or by a party acting
for the agency/institution.
● Personally Identifiable Information (PII) - includes information, such
that any reasonable person could identify the student within
reasonable certainty, such as:
○ Student name
○ ID number (used for direct or indirect identification)
■ Ex. Social security, State ID, Local ID
○ Address
○ Date or Place of Birth
● Sensitive Data - Data that carries risk for adverse effects from an
unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure.
17. Child Confidentiality: Data Collected by Tutors
All the data Literacy Lab tutors need to do their work with the
students will come from the assessments they administer.
Once a member tests students, they will have all they need to
know to provide services to them.
Internal Coaches will determine if there is information that
members have a “need to know.”
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18. Child Confidentiality: Parental Release of
Information
Any exchange of non-public information regarding a student, except as
permitted, must be authorized through the use of an informed consent,
typically a parental release of information.
“Parent” means natural or adoptive parent, legal guardian, or individual
acting as a parent or guardian.
The right of parents to access information is limited to their own child.
Either parent has equal rights unless there is evidence of a court order
or state law revoking or restricting that right.
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19. Child Confidentiality: Data Privacy
Data privacy laws address the access to or the exchange of personally identifiable
information regarding a student.
Information access or exchange includes verbal or written communication of
information involving, but not limited to face-to-face conversations, telephone
conversations, letters, notes, email, video tape, audio recordings, etc.
The concepts of right to know and need to know apply here. If there is a legitimate
educational need for access to the student’s private data, then school/site personnel
have access to that data and will share with tutors on a need to know basis.
20. Child Confidentiality: Protected Data Given to Tutors
The Literacy Lab members will need access to state accountability data from the
school. This data will be provided by the Internal Coach.
The Literacy Lab members also need access to demographic data about each
student, including date of birth, gender, ethnicity, and state identification number.
This data can be provided through the internal coach or the school office.
Internal Coaches will determine if there is any other information that members have a
need to know.
21. Child Confidentiality: Sharing Data on Online Platforms
- Avoid providing student data, including student names, in the body of emails.
Student data should be shared only via a password-protected document or
cloud-based system such as Google Drive, the Reading Corps Data Management
System, or Dropbox. Students should be referred to by the first initial of their first
name and first four initials of their last name.
- Upon receiving student data via email, digital document, or sharing platform (such
as Google Drive or Dropbox), record the information elsewhere and delete the email
or shared document.
- Passwords should not be saved automatically by computer browser. Always work
form a password protected computer / account.
22. Child Confidentiality: Physical Storage of Data
- Store confidential student data in a secure on-site location (paper files must be
stored in a locked drawer). Student data (including data from the Reading Corps data
management system or tutor logs) may not be removed from the service site unless
instructed to bring to a training session.
- Find out how your school destroys confidential data and use this protocol for data
you no longer need as soon as possible.
- Never leave student information or data lying on your desk or work area unattended.
- Do not share data between students. (i.e., A student asks about what his partner
got for a score on an assessment.)
23. Implications of Violating Privacy:
A Real Life Case
Questions for discussion:
- Why do you think the teacher discussed the private information with
the boy’s girlfriend?
- What are some ways this situation could have been prevented?
- Put yourself in the teacher’s shoes…what should the teacher have
done differently?
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24. Mandated Reporting - The Exception
The exception to data privacy/confidentiality
is…suspected abuse or neglect.
School/site personnel and Literacy Lab tutors
are considered mandated reporters and are
obligated by law to report any suspected
abuse or neglect of children to proper
agencies.
VA Department of Social Services
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25. Mandated Reporting, federal law
Approximately 48 States, the District of Columbia, Samoa, Guam and
others…designate professions whose members are mandated by law to report child
maltreatment. Individuals designated as mandatory reporters typically have frequent
contact with children. They may include:
•Social workers
•Teachers, principals, and other school personnel
•Physicians, nurses, other health-care workers
•Counselors, therapists and other health professionals
•Child care providers
•Medical examiners or coroners
•Law enforcement officers
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26. Mandated Reporting
Immediately make an oral report of any suspected child maltreatment
to the Child and Family Services Agency’s (CFSA) Hotline
Literacy Lab tutors and volunteers should communicate the concern to
the child’s teacher, the principal or the Internal Coach (Use chain of
responsibility). This administrator is then obligated to make a report to
CFSA.
Literacy Lab tutors may be asked to complete a written report that is
submitted to the proper authorities
The act of filing a report and the report itself,
are confidential and private information**
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27. Mandated Reporting
What does this look like in real life? Imagine a child comes to your session and tells
you her mom gave her a bruise on her arm.
What do you?
1. Stay calm, cool & collected because you’ve already talked to your Internal Coach
about the procedure for your school!
2. Stop the conversation without causing alarm for the student.
3. Bring the student to a staff member trained in conducting student interviews.
[Whoever has been designated by the school to handle mandatory reporting]
4. Do not continue the conversation or question the child. Such well intentioned
actions can result in the tutor engaging in actions that can put themselves at risk
– litigious action could result.
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28. Mandated Reporting: What will be asked?
1) Your name and phone number, and your relationship to the family or child
2) Where the child is now and whether they are in immediate danger
3) A description of when and where the incident occurred and what happened to the
child
4) A description of any injuries and the present condition of the child
5) The names and addresses of the child, parents or caregivers
6) A report of any witnesses to the incident and their names
The act of filing a report and the report itself is
confidential and private information!
29. Mandated Reporting: Consequences for
Failing to Report
Misdemeanor Charge:
A mandated reporter who knows or has reason to
believe that a child is neglected, physically abused,
or sexually abused or has been within the preceding
three years, and fails to report can be charged with a
misdemeanor.
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30. Mandated Reporting: Consequences for Malicious
Reporting
Malicious and reckless reports. Any person who knowingly or
recklessly makes a false report shall be liable in a civil suit for any
actual damages suffered by the person or persons so reported and for
any punitive damages set by the court or jury, plus costs and
reasonable attorney fees.
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31. Each table has a scenario! Your job as a group is to:
1) Discuss the scenario as a team.
2) Decide on the best solution.
3) Open the “CONFIDENTIAL” envelope at your table and
read the correct solution.
4) Compare your answer against the correct solution.
Let’s Practice
32. Let’s Practice: Solutions
SCENARIO SOLUTION
1) You are approached in the
supermarket by a person that wishes to
talk to you about a student.
Tell them you are required to maintain confidentiality, and that
you cannot speak about students (remember that people in the
store can hear you).
2) A student reveals to you that the
black eye they have is the result of
their parent hitting them.
Stop the conversation. Tell the child you have to tell someone
else. Take the child to the school nurse. Tell your Internal
Coach. Call the appropriate agency and make a report.
3) The grandmother of a student
wishes to discuss her grandchild’s
progress at school.
Tell them you are required to maintain confidentiality, and that
you can only speak to the legal parent.
4) A student’s father’s live-in girlfriend
calls you on the phone to discuss the
student.
Tell them you are required to maintain confidentiality, and that
you cannot speak about students, the child’s legal parent can
make an appointment to come to the site/school to meet with
the Internal Coach and teacher.
34. Importance of Ethics
- Literacy Lab tutors interact with
teachers, paraprofessionals,
administrators, office staff,
students, parents, and the
community.
- The effectiveness of these
relationships depends not only on
the work performed, but also on
the ethical behavior of each
member of the team.
35. Follow ethical behavior as an educational
professional!
Be respectful and lawful; always maintain data privacy and
confidentiality
Be preventative, ask questions at your site.
– Find out who you should take students to if there is a
concern about their safety at home
Let’s hope it never happens…
– Complete necessary phone calls and paperwork if you do
need to report to social services
