to compromise their professional effectiveness” (Standard II.1.2). In recent years there has been increased attention to the importance of self-care among school psychologists as a protective factor to prevent or reduce burnout (see Boccio et al., 2016a ; Schilling et al., 2018). However, it is important to note that although “self-care” is identified as an aspirational principle some codes of ethics codes, it is not an enforceable standard in NASP’s code or in the codes of other helping professions.
Our codes of ethics also encourage practitioners to engage in the lifelong learning that is necessary to achieve and maintain expertise in the field of school psychology (Welfel, 2012). School psychologists are obligated to “engage in continuing professional development” and “remain current regarding developments in research … and professional practices that benefit children, youth, families, and schools” (NASP Standard II.1.3). They are encouraged to recognize that “professional skill development beyond that of the novice practitioner requires a well-planned program of continuing professional development and professional supervision” (NASP Guiding Principle II.1; also APA Standard 2.03).
Responsibility
As noted previously, in all areas of service delivery, school psychologists strive to maximize benefit and avoid doing harm. To do so, school psychologists must “use scientific knowledge from psychology and education to help clients and others make informed choices, and accept responsibility for their work” (NASP Broad Theme II). As Lilienfeld et al. (2012, p. 8) observed, all school psychologists, “regardless of the setting in which they operate, need to develop and maintain a skill set that allows them to distinguish evidence-based from non-evidence based practices.” This means consulting scholarly sources (journal articles, reference books, APA and NASP websites) to identify empirically-supported assessment tools and interventions. In addition, in decision-making, practitioners engage in scientific thinking, and are skeptical of, but open to, new tools and techniques. They are advised to learn about and be aware of common cognitive errors such as confirmation bias (the tendency to seek out evidence consistent with our beliefs, and deny, dismiss, or distort evidence that is not), belief perseverance (tendency to cling to beliefs despite repeated contradictory evidence), hindsight bias (error of perceiving events as more predictable after they have occurred), and base rate neglect (neglecting or ignoring the prevalence of a characteristic in a population), among others (from Lilienfeld et al., 2012, p. 15).
Consistent with the idea of responsible caring, school psychologists “accept responsibility for their professional work” (NASP Broad Theme II) and they take steps to offset any harmful consequences of decisions made (APA Principle B; NASP Guiding Principle II.2). More specifically, school psychologists ensure that “the effects of their recommendations and intervention plans are monitored, either personally or by others. They revise a recommendation, or modify or terminate an intervention plan, when data indicate that the desired outcomes are not being attained” (NASP Standard II.2.2).
Under the broad theme of professional competence and responsibility, the NASP’s code of ethics has specific standards for responsible assessment and intervention practices (Guiding Principle II.3 and subsumed standards), school-based record keeping (Guiding Principle II.4 and subsumed standards), and the use of professional materials (Guiding Principle II.5 and subsumed standards).
Honesty and Integrity in Professional Relationships
A psychologist–client relationship is a fiduciary relationship, that is, one based on trust. To build and maintain trust, school psychologists must demonstrate integrity in professional relationships. The broad principle of integrity encompasses the moral obligations of fidelity, nonmaleficence, and beneficence. Fidelity refers to a continuing faithfulness to the truth and to one’s professional duties (Bersoff & Koeppl, 1993). Practitioners are obligated to be open and honest in their interactions with others and to adhere to their professional promises (CPA, 2017; APA Principle B; NASP Broad Theme III).
Consistent with the broad theme of honesty and integrity in professional relationships, school psychologists make known their professional priorities. Their top priority is the welfare of children and youth:
The school psychologist’s commitment to protecting the rights and welfare of children and youth is communicated to the school administration, staff, and others as their highest priority in providing services. School psychologists are ethically obligated to speak up for the interests and rights of students and families even when it may be difficult to do so. (NASP Standard III.2.3)
Because they typically provide services to several different groups (e.g., families, teachers, classrooms, students), practitioners may encounter situations in which loyalties are conflicted. For this reason, “as much as possible, school psychologists make known their priorities and commitments in advance to all parties to prevent misunderstandings” (NASP Standard III.2.4).
School psychologists are also forthright about what they have to offer their clients and other recipients of services. They “explain all professional services to clients in a clear, understandable manner,” and are candid about “their roles, assignments, and working relationships with recipients of service and others” (NASP Standard III.2.1). In addition, they establish clear roles for themselves within their work setting while respecting the various roles of colleagues and other professions (NASP Standard III.2.2). Read and consider Case 1.3.
Madeleine Fine, a new first-grade teacher, asks Maria Delgado, the school psychologist, for some ideas on handling Kevin, a child who has demonstrated some challenging behaviors in the classroom. After Maria observes in the classroom, it is evident to her that Madeleine needs some help working with Kevin and developing effective classroom management strategies. Maria offers to meet with Madeleine once a week over a six-week period to work on classroom management skills, and Madeleine agrees. Shortly after their third consultation session, the principal asks Maria for her assessment of Madeleine’s teaching competence. The principal indicates that she plans to terminate Madeleine during her probationary period if there are problems with her teaching effectiveness. Maria is not sure how to respond to the principal’s request.
Case 1.3 illustrates the importance of openly defining the parameters of the services to be offered in the school setting. Madeleine has become Maria’s consultee in this school psychologist–consultee relationship. In this situation, Maria is bound by the obligation and expectation that what is shared and learned in their professional interaction is confidential; she may not share information about her consultee with the principal without Madeleine’s explicit consent to do so. If Maria violated the confidentiality of the consultative relationship and shared information about Madeleine’s teaching with the school administration, her actions would most likely undermine teacher trust in school psychologists and diminish her ability to work with other teachers in need of consultative services.
However, as is discussed in Chapter 8, not all psychologist–teacher consultative relationships are confidential. In defining their job roles to the school community, school psychologists identify the services they provide and those that are outside the scope of their job roles (NASP Standard III.2.1, III.2.2; APA Principle E). It is the job role of the principal, not the school psychologist, to gather information on teacher effectiveness (also NASP Standard III.2.4). The ethical issues associated with the consultation role are also discussed in Chapters 8.
Furthermore, consistent with the general principle of integrity in professional relationships, psychologists must be honest and straightforward about the boundaries of their competencies (NASP Standard III.1.1,
