1. E THICAL D ILEMMA IN A K INDERGAR TEN C LASSROOM … Christine Barber, Vera Deese Marissa Jasso, William Robbins, Fall 2011 Dr. Bell

2. D EMOGRAPHIC I NFORMATION Kingsley Charter School Dunwoody, Georgia Demographics 7 Caucasians, 7 African Americans, 4 Asians & 2 Hispanics

3. C ASE STUDY A student in kindergarten is having difficulty in all subjects; this is very hard for the parents to acknowledge. The teacher has held meetings with the school counselor and the parents but nothing has been resolved. The teacher talks to the parents via email or phone repeating the same suggestions, tutoring, speech therapy and lastly testing for possible special education placement. The parents became very agitated with the continuing insistence that extra support is needed. The parents demanded their child be transferred into another classroom. The teacher feels she did the right thing, she had to do what best for the student even if it was displeasing to the parents. The teacher can only make suggestions in helping with the development of the child. Since the student is a kindergartener, there are no previous records to review to support or contradict the teachers concerns.

4. S TAKEHOLDERS  Student  Parents  Teacher  School Counselor

5. E THICAL Q UESTIONS 1. If the parents do not seek help for the child, how far does the teacher push the issues with administration? 2. If the parents choose not to test the child, should the teacher respect the parents wishes? 3. If the parents continuously refuse help for the child, should the teacher takes samples of the students work to the school psychologist or special education department for review?

6. P OSSIBLE R ESOLUTIONS 1. Asking an administrator to join in with the process would be the prudent thing to do. Having more support would be welcomed to the teacher and counselor and would make the family feel more comfortable. I think that continuing to monitor the child and keeping the parents engaged and involved would be the best thing for the child. 2. It is important to not overstep as an educator. Letting parents come to terms and make their own informed decisions is the only way to ensure that relations between families and schools stay strong. I would say that the teachers need to keep parents informed of any progress or regressions in children. But after giving the parents the information, it is best to let them make the decision to get testing conducted. 3. Teachers should use their judgment in cases like this. But, generally teachers should also feel that they are responsible to use the resources at their disposal to help students succeed the best they can. I think that the best way to ensure the student is getting the help they deserve is to be proactive when struggles continue for a student. Taking their work to a professional is only going to help them.

7. R EFERENCE Benning, Jacques S. “ERIC.”‘Clearinghouse on Teaching and Teacher Education.’2003-10-00. Nov 28 2011. http://www.ericdigests.org/2004- 4/moral.htm.http://www.ericdigests.org/2004- 4/moral.htm

8. R EFERENCES P AGE Pictures: Goodhart, Kate. “Kingsley Elementary Photo.” http://www.kingsleycharter.org/index.html http://www.kingsleycharter.org/index.html Reed, Jessica. “Picture of Students.” http://office.microsoft.com/en- us/images/??Origin=EC790014051033&CT T=6&ver=12&app=powerpnt.exe. http://office.microsoft.com/en- Book: Mastropieri, M.A., & Scruggs, T. E. (2000). The Inclusive Classroom: Strategies for EffectiveInstruction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.