Legal and Ethics Application by Drucilla Campos-Bernal

#10 Personal Connection

drucillab — 2024-10-11 04:51:15 UTC

An area I learned most about is confidentiality and FERPA laws. I was a little bit hazy on FERPA law and now I know the details of what is considered protected versus information not protected by the law. I enjoyed reading up on cases concerning FERPA law. I was actually surprised to learn that peer graded work was not protected by FERPA law and could be shared. I always believed that all types of grades were confidential and now I am more educated concerning the details of FERPA and confidentiality.

#7 Local

drucillab — 2024-10-11 04:51:15 UTC

Within our local school district there is a push to provide the students with SEL (Social Emotional Learning) curriculum. These lessons help students learn how to deal with emotional topics.

They are taught that their school counselors are there for support. Once in the counselor’s office the counselor has an obligation to explain to the student the scope of their assistance and confidentiality.

#9 Ethical Principles

drucillab — 2024-10-11 04:51:15 UTC

In a situation in which a counselor must keep information confidential and away from the parent is tricky. As long as the student is not in any danger, a counselor must strive to maintain confidentiality. However, if the student is showing signs of self harm, the counselor must share the information with parents and administrators. In addition if the student confides abuse, the counselor must also notify the administrator and call Child Protective Services in order to keep the student safe (American School Counselor Association, 2022).

Slide #3 Federal and State Laws Alignment

drucillab — 2024-10-11 04:51:15 UTC

The Texas law that aligns with FERPA law would be The Texas Student Privacy Act of 1995, which protects Texas students from having their information shared on the internet.

#11 Recommendations / Best Practices for Compliance

drucillab — 2024-10-11 04:51:15 UTC

Recommendations

Explain to parents what directory information is and that it can be shared.
Explain to stakeholders what confidentiality looks like.
Explain to students what information may need to be shared with another adult if safety becomes an issue.
Explain that federal funding may be lost if schools are not abiding by FERPA laws.
Counselors must conduct themselves in a professional manner.
Counselors must abide by the law,Texas Administrative Code, Ethical Standards of the Texas Administrative Codes, and the Ethical Standards of the American School Counselor Association.

#8 Risk Management Strategies

drucillab — 2024-10-11 04:51:15 UTC

Upon having a student in the counseling office, inform the student of confidentiality expectations.
Inform students that if the counselor feels they need to share information due to safety issues, they will share information with stakeholders.
Upon registering for school inform parents of what is considered directory information that can be shared.

Slide #1 Professional Perspective/Audience/Topic

drucillab — 2024-10-11 04:51:15 UTC

My professional perspective is of a teacher who has been an educator for 20+ years in the area of Special Education looking to become a school counselor. My audience would be my fellow educators and those in the education field. The topic that I found most interesting was that of FERPA. After being an educator for many years, I thought I knew a great deal concerning educational laws. I was surprised at how much information there was about FERPA that I did not know.

#6 Federal regulation or mandate

drucillab — 2024-10-11 04:51:15 UTC

A Federal regulation of FERPA is that an organization must abide by all the rules of FERPA law or risk losing federal funding (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99).

#4 one statue & one administrative law

drucillab — 2024-10-11 04:51:15 UTC

Padlet #4 FERPA is included in the Texas Administrative Code (19 TEC § 1 .1). It is mentioned as being recognized and used in legislation. Statutes are in place to reinforce the law. Statutes like 3.1 of the Ethical Standards of the Texas Administrative Code (2 TEC § 33.003), state that an educator is not to share confidential information.

Slide #2 Governing Agency

drucillab — 2024-10-11 04:51:15 UTC

The governing agency for FERPA Law is the U.S. Supreme Court that implemented this law. This law is upheld by the country as a federal law. Federal law is superior to state law.

References

drucillab — 2024-10-11 04:51:15 UTC

American Counselor Association. (2022). ASCA ethical standards for school counselors. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/44f30280-ffe8-4b41-9ad8-f15909c3d164/EthicalStandards.pdf

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99)

Owasso Independent School District v Falvo, No. 1-011, 2002 U.S. 426

School Counselors and Counseling Programs, 2 Tex. Edu. Code § 33.002-33.007

Texas Counseling Association. (2020). The Texas evaluation model for professional school counselors (3rd ed.). https://tea.texas.gov/academics/learning-support-and-programs/school-guidance-and-counseling/pub2018texas-model5th-edition.pd

#5 Common/ Case laws

drucillab — 2024-10-11 04:51:15 UTC

An example concerning FERPA, Owasso Independent School District v. Falvo (2002), states that grades graded by students are not part of confidential student records and can be shared. Peer grades can be shared and this scenario does not violate FERPA.