Law And Ethics Of A School Psychologist

Law and Ethics School psychologists face a range of ethical considerations and laws that they must follow and abide by in practicing school psychology. To begin with, there are four broad ethical principles stemming from the National Association of School Psychologists (Jacob, Decker, & Lugg, 2016). The first ethical principle discusses the respect of client’s privacy and right to make their own decisions. The second ethical principle indicates that the actions of a school psychologist should be beneficial to others. The third ethical principle states that the school psychologist should only work within their capacity as a school psychologist. Lastly, the fourth ethical principle discusses responsibilities a school psychologist has to schools,

All of the legislation that has been created relating to education clearly state that every child should have equal opportunities of education. The most current legislation concerning education is the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), passed in 2015 (Jacob, Decker, & Lugg, 2016). This Act ensures that every child is receiving the same educational opportunities. Another law pertaining to school psychology is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004. This Act states that children must be assessed in a non-discriminatory manner and educated in the least restrictive environment. This act also provides more money for special education

These interventions are created to help these children to more easily be able to reach their optimal learning potential. The interventions for each individual student is different depending on the child and what they need specifically. The child may be put into a special education classroom where they may receive more one on one instruction due to the classroom being much smaller. Another possibility is receiving a behavioral or speech support plan, depending on what the student is struggling with. In order to keep track of the individual students who have an IEP, Mrs. Duffy stated that a response to intervention model (RTI) is used in the Covina Valley Unified School district (N. Duffy, personal communication, September 13, 2017). This model is a way of tracking a student’s progress to see if they are responding to the interventions that were established in their IEP. Overall, the assessment and intervention of every student is a vital part of being a school psychologist. In the assessment and intervention of each student, consultation and collaboration is used