Joshua Short
700.1PBP Performance-Based Assessment:
The Teacher
Scenario 1
The Life Skills classroom at Hasting High provides Community Based
Instruction to its small group of students with severe disabilities. The
district provides some funds for transportation and community outings, but
it isn’t usually enough to keep the students busy throughout the school
year. To help with the funds, the principal allows the students, with the
support of the teachers, to sell breakfast items to the school three days a
week. This fundraiser becomes very popular with the rest of the student
body because the breakfast items are inexpensive, delivered straight to
their 1st period classes, and they get to feel good about helping the Life
Skills classroom in a positive way. Ever since the Life Skills fundraising
began, the Student Council sponsor, Mrs. Sumner, has noticed that support
for their daily candy fundraiser has declined, and she believes it is due to
the popularity of the breakfast items being sold. One day she notices a Life
Skills student and one of the teachers, Mr. Moore, out making deliveries
and collecting money. The student is clearly struggling with handling the
money, so Mr. Moore helps her by taking some of the money and putting it
into his own pocket. Mrs. Sumner sees only this small interaction and has
no other context for the exchange. Later that day, when speaking to a group
of other teachers she mentions seeing Mr. Moore putting some of the
breakfast fundraiser money into his pocket. Over the next several days, this
comment makes its way through the faculty, and when she is questioned by
other faculty members, Mrs. Sumner’s response is that she did see Mr.
Moore pocket the money, but she doesn’t know what he did with it after
that. In the same conversations, she also casually mentions the expensive
new car Mr. Moore recently started driving.
Questions:
1. Identify the behaviors (if any) that you believe violate standards in the
Model Code of Ethics for Educators.
2. Which standards do you think were violated? Explain your reasoning. If
you feel that no standards were violated, explain your reasoning.
3. Should Mr. Moore and/or Mrs. Sumner have handled this situation
differently so as not to violate the Code of Ethics, or (if you feel that there
was no violation) to avoid their actions being called into question?
Scenario 1 Response
In my opinion, when Mrs. Sumners shared what she thought she saw with a
group of teachers, it was because she was uncertain of the situation.
However, her spreading false information goes against Standard 2.2, which
states that educators should not intentionally make untrue statements about
, a colleague or the school system. Mrs. Sumners did not seek clarification
from Mr. Moore about what she observed, leading her to make incorrect
assumptions about him and discuss it with other teachers. This
misinformation could then be passed on to new teachers, potentially leading
to a lack of trust in the funding for the Life Skills classroom. Rather than
jumping to conclusions, Mrs. Sumners should have communicated with Mr.
Moore or consulted the Principal to address her concerns about how the
money was being managed. One alternative approach for Mrs. Sumners
could have been to suggest providing a pouch or sealed box for the student
and Mr. Moore to keep the money secure. Additionally, Mr. Moore could
have improved the situation by implementing a money box or envelope to
store donations received and maintain a clear record. Taking such
measures can prevent issues from arising, similar to the situation involving
Mrs. Sumners.
Scenario 2
Mrs. Nelson is a 5th grade teacher at Xander Elementary School. Mrs.
Nelson is very tech-savvy and uses many forms of social media to
communicate with her parents and students. At the beginning of the year
she asks parents to follow her on a communication app, Remind, so that
they can receive important text reminders about upcoming events. Remind
is typically used for group communication. For example, Mrs. Nelson might
send out a reminder to the class that they have a field trip and will need to
remember to bring their lunch. After receiving a group text, parents then
have the option to respond individually to Mrs. Nelson and they can then
carry on a conversation in a private environment if they need to discuss
more student-specific information. Many of her students have their own cell
phones and have also begun following Mrs. Nelson on the Remind app.
While Mrs. Nelson does not encourage this, she doesn’t remove them when
they do. It has never been an issue in the past, and she assumes it might
help them to know about upcoming and important events too. Mrs. Nelson
is a very loved and respected teacher, and she is known for providing a very
safe and nurturing environment in her classroom. Whenever a student is
struggling with an issue, he or she knows that Mrs. Nelson will listen and
support them. Because of the precarious nature of 5th grade, students often
come to Mrs. Nelson with all kinds of problems. After sending out a Remind
text about the upcoming early dismissal day, a student, Maddie, responded
with a private message to Mrs. Nelson telling her that she needed to talk to
her about a problem. Mrs. Nelson tells her to come to her first thing in the
morning, so they can talk before class begins. The next morning, Maddie
shows up early to class as instructed and tells Mrs. Nelson that she thinks
something is wrong with her because she doesn’t like boys the way her
friends do, but she really doesn’t want to be gay. She is afraid of what her
parents and friends would say if she never likes boys the way she thinks she
is supposed to. Though she was a little taken aback by this confession, Mrs.
700.1PBP Performance-Based Assessment:
The Teacher
Scenario 1
The Life Skills classroom at Hasting High provides Community Based
Instruction to its small group of students with severe disabilities. The
district provides some funds for transportation and community outings, but
it isn’t usually enough to keep the students busy throughout the school
year. To help with the funds, the principal allows the students, with the
support of the teachers, to sell breakfast items to the school three days a
week. This fundraiser becomes very popular with the rest of the student
body because the breakfast items are inexpensive, delivered straight to
their 1st period classes, and they get to feel good about helping the Life
Skills classroom in a positive way. Ever since the Life Skills fundraising
began, the Student Council sponsor, Mrs. Sumner, has noticed that support
for their daily candy fundraiser has declined, and she believes it is due to
the popularity of the breakfast items being sold. One day she notices a Life
Skills student and one of the teachers, Mr. Moore, out making deliveries
and collecting money. The student is clearly struggling with handling the
money, so Mr. Moore helps her by taking some of the money and putting it
into his own pocket. Mrs. Sumner sees only this small interaction and has
no other context for the exchange. Later that day, when speaking to a group
of other teachers she mentions seeing Mr. Moore putting some of the
breakfast fundraiser money into his pocket. Over the next several days, this
comment makes its way through the faculty, and when she is questioned by
other faculty members, Mrs. Sumner’s response is that she did see Mr.
Moore pocket the money, but she doesn’t know what he did with it after
that. In the same conversations, she also casually mentions the expensive
new car Mr. Moore recently started driving.
Questions:
1. Identify the behaviors (if any) that you believe violate standards in the
Model Code of Ethics for Educators.
2. Which standards do you think were violated? Explain your reasoning. If
you feel that no standards were violated, explain your reasoning.
3. Should Mr. Moore and/or Mrs. Sumner have handled this situation
differently so as not to violate the Code of Ethics, or (if you feel that there
was no violation) to avoid their actions being called into question?
Scenario 1 Response
In my opinion, when Mrs. Sumners shared what she thought she saw with a
group of teachers, it was because she was uncertain of the situation.
However, her spreading false information goes against Standard 2.2, which
states that educators should not intentionally make untrue statements about
, a colleague or the school system. Mrs. Sumners did not seek clarification
from Mr. Moore about what she observed, leading her to make incorrect
assumptions about him and discuss it with other teachers. This
misinformation could then be passed on to new teachers, potentially leading
to a lack of trust in the funding for the Life Skills classroom. Rather than
jumping to conclusions, Mrs. Sumners should have communicated with Mr.
Moore or consulted the Principal to address her concerns about how the
money was being managed. One alternative approach for Mrs. Sumners
could have been to suggest providing a pouch or sealed box for the student
and Mr. Moore to keep the money secure. Additionally, Mr. Moore could
have improved the situation by implementing a money box or envelope to
store donations received and maintain a clear record. Taking such
measures can prevent issues from arising, similar to the situation involving
Mrs. Sumners.
Scenario 2
Mrs. Nelson is a 5th grade teacher at Xander Elementary School. Mrs.
Nelson is very tech-savvy and uses many forms of social media to
communicate with her parents and students. At the beginning of the year
she asks parents to follow her on a communication app, Remind, so that
they can receive important text reminders about upcoming events. Remind
is typically used for group communication. For example, Mrs. Nelson might
send out a reminder to the class that they have a field trip and will need to
remember to bring their lunch. After receiving a group text, parents then
have the option to respond individually to Mrs. Nelson and they can then
carry on a conversation in a private environment if they need to discuss
more student-specific information. Many of her students have their own cell
phones and have also begun following Mrs. Nelson on the Remind app.
While Mrs. Nelson does not encourage this, she doesn’t remove them when
they do. It has never been an issue in the past, and she assumes it might
help them to know about upcoming and important events too. Mrs. Nelson
is a very loved and respected teacher, and she is known for providing a very
safe and nurturing environment in her classroom. Whenever a student is
struggling with an issue, he or she knows that Mrs. Nelson will listen and
support them. Because of the precarious nature of 5th grade, students often
come to Mrs. Nelson with all kinds of problems. After sending out a Remind
text about the upcoming early dismissal day, a student, Maddie, responded
with a private message to Mrs. Nelson telling her that she needed to talk to
her about a problem. Mrs. Nelson tells her to come to her first thing in the
morning, so they can talk before class begins. The next morning, Maddie
shows up early to class as instructed and tells Mrs. Nelson that she thinks
something is wrong with her because she doesn’t like boys the way her
friends do, but she really doesn’t want to be gay. She is afraid of what her
parents and friends would say if she never likes boys the way she thinks she
is supposed to. Though she was a little taken aback by this confession, Mrs.
