EDG 6305: Legal and Ethical Principals by Anna Vallejo

Slide #1 Professional Perspective/Audience/Topic:

avallejo25 — 2021-07-18 19:48:26 UTC

I will be focusing on Teacher preparation and standards in the 8-12 ELA setting and the funding for highly qualified teachers. My audience will be 8-12 ELA teachers and administrators who are responsible for observing and evaluating these teachers.

The topics I will be covering are the Texas Educators' Code of Ethics (Texas Educators' Code of Ethics (19 TAC § 247) and the Texas Administrative Code for Teacher Standards (19 Tex. Admin. Code § 149.1001(1995).

I chose this topic because, as the instructional coach, I will be guiding teachers on the expectations from them based on the Code of Ethics and Teacher standards.

I will also provide training to administrators on the same expectations so they can calibrate their observations and evaluations.

References:

19 Tex. Admin. Code § 149.1001(1995)

Texas Educators' Code of Ethics (19 TAC § 247)

Slide #2 Interview

avallejo25 — 2021-07-18 19:50:23 UTC

1. The topic is important for me because I will be working with teachers in a coaching position in order to help them become the best teacher they can be. In our school, ELA-R is always struggling to produce higher testing scores and students struggle with higher order thinking skills in ELA. This has prompted our district to focus on coaching teachers on how to best reach each type of learner and bringing in a coach to work with the teacher who also teaches the same content and has their own model classroom. I hope that I can provide this help by working on what the teacher teaching standards are and modeling.

2. Best Practices:

Build relationships with teachers so they trust you and seek out your help
Have a clear understanding of what an instructional coach is and how they can best use me as a resource
Remain visible to all teachers at all times so they get used to you coming and going into classrooms.
Build relationships with their students so co-teaching is smooth and the students are not surprised.

3. Emerging Issue:
For our school, an issue that is emerging is the average experience of our department went from 15 year average experience to 3-4 years due to most teachers being new or second year teachers. As the coach, this will make my job a little more challenging because I will need to see if this will impact student learning. Since several teachers will be new this year, they will rely heavily on my help when it comes to modeling how to run a classroom or teach certain concepts. Veteran teachers who spent the last year doing a hybrid teaching model will also need to review how to teach a full classroom of students how they did before the pandemic. Unfortunately, the pandemic has also affected teachers, both novice and veteran, and we may not see this impact for many years to come.
4. Interview:
I interviewed the Associate Principal who is in charge of our department. Mr. Adrian Hid at Highlands High School for SAISD.

We spoke about the legal requirements that he has to deal with on a day to day basis regarding teacher training. Legally, each teacher must meet the teaching standards and must also receive ongoing training on other topics such as Ethics and Principles. As the assistant principal, Mr. Hid stated that he is responsible for making sure teachers meet these requirements every year. The policy that came to mind was the No Child Left Behind Act (2008) and the changes in the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) since these specifically address the need for high quality teachers. By bringing in the Teacher evaluation T-TESS, Mr. Hid has to directly observe teachers and ensure they are high quality teachers based on the T-TESS Matrix. We spoke about court cases that may impact his work and he brought up the IDEA Act of 2004 and its update in the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015. He stated that making sure new teachers understand accommodations and modifications for our students is a top priority of his since teachers need to establish this knowledge pretty quickly in order not to get into legal trouble.

References:
Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, 20 U.S.C. § 6301 (2015)
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 (2004)

No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 20 U.S.C. § 6319 (2008)

Slide 3: Professional Association

avallejo25 — 2021-07-18 19:55:19 UTC

This resource is informative for my topic because it covers the critical information that new teachers need in order to become a high quality teacher. While policies and district level Codes of Conduct spell out what makes a high quality teacher, this resource addresses how to make sure the first year teacher is successful and able to become a high quality teacher.

References
The Research-Backed Support First-Year Teachers Need. (2021, June 29). ASCD. https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/the-research-backed-support-first-year-teachers-need

Slide 4: Current News Article

avallejo25 — 2021-07-18 20:09:42 UTC

Summary:

Education Department wants to give teachers vouchers to choose their own professional development
The vouchers would be able to be used for targeted professional development that each teacher needs in order to continue being a high quality teacher
Opponents state that this will overwhelm teachers, especially new teachers who would not know what professional development is needed
Everyone agrees that professional development is needed and teachers should continue seeking out professional development for themselves

Opponents state that the Every Student Succeeds Act, which defines professional development as “sustained (not stand-alone, 1-day, and short-term workshops), intensive, collaborative, job-embedded, data-driven, and classroom-focused.” A voucher program, which only some teachers will be able to participate in, does not align with that definition, George said. (Ujifusa, 2020)

References
Ujifusa, A. M. W. (2020, March 9). Education Department Developing Vouchers for Teacher Professional Development. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/education-department-developing-vouchers-for-teacher-professional-development/2020/03

Slide #5: Current News Article

avallejo25 — 2021-07-18 20:09:57 UTC

Summary:

Teachers can be the best teacher possible but it might not be enough
Teachers who are considered highly qualified are struggling since the pandemic started
Training provided is not enough since the pandemic started
Stressed teachers cannot be good for student learning

References:
Cardoza, K. (2021, April 19). “We Need To Be Nurtured, Too”: Many Teachers Say They’re Reaching A Breaking Point. NPR. https://choice.npr.org/index.html?origin=https://www.npr.org/2021/04/19/988211478/we-need-to-be-nurtured-too-many-teachers-say-theyre-reaching-a-breaking-point

Slide #6: Original Sources of Law (Constitutional)

avallejo25 — 2021-07-18 21:58:40 UTC

Texas Constitution addresses issues of education in Article 7 (Tex. Const. art. 7), specifically the establishment of free public school and funding structures.
Funding for free schools is extremely important for all students but needs more help with making sure teachers are compensated accordingly

Slide #7: Original Sources of Law (Statutory)

avallejo25 — 2021-07-18 22:01:42 UTC

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Title 42, Section 12101 (42 USC § 12101) is important because it directly affects teachers who are teaching students with disabilities. If a teacher fails to understand this statute, they are at risk of losing their certificate or being disciplined or sued.

Slide #8: Original Sources of Law (Judicial)

avallejo25 — 2021-07-18 22:02:13 UTC

Concerning public education funding (Edgewood ISD v. Kirby, 777 S.W.2d 391 (Tex. 1989), p. 12).
This law was extremely important to begin establishing adequate funding for all districts. If we do not have adequate funding in our schools, we cannot produce or keep high quality teachers.

Slide #9: Original Sources of Law (Administrative)

avallejo25 — 2021-07-18 22:03:26 UTC

This law is important because it helps establish the educational relationship back into the parent's hands. Teachers need to remember that teaching a student relies on both parent and student relationship building. It does take all parties to make a student successful.

Regulations related to the Family educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g).

Padlet Slide #10 Local Administrative Law/Policy/Rule:

avallejo25 — 2021-07-18 22:05:11 UTC

This code was chosen because it is very vague on what teachers need to have in order to teach. It just states that a teacher needs appropriate certificate or permit. I chose this because once teachers begin teaching, this doesn't mean anything to them but keeping up a highly quality teacher needs more specifications.

Padlet Slide #11 Ethical Principle

avallejo25 — 2021-07-18 22:07:35 UTC

Sec. 21.004
From available funds, the agency, the State Board for Educator Certification, and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall develop and distribute materials that emphasize the importance of the teaching profession and inform individuals about state-funded loan forgiveness and tuition assistance programs.

This is connected to my topic because I feel that funding needs to be adequately targeted at maintaining teachers in the profession and not just bringing them in to teaching.
Materials distributed need to fully outline the high stake needs of teaching so teachers are not overwhelmed when they begin teaching.

References:

Texas Education Code - EDUC § 21.004

Padlet Slide #12 Personal Connection to the Legal and Ethical Standards:

avallejo25 — 2021-07-18 22:13:27 UTC

My personal connection to the legal and ethical standards is the inclusion of adequate teacher training programs and their funding in order to create “high quality teachers” that is outlined in No Child Left Behind Act ( 20 U.S.C. § 6319 (2008) and the changes in the Every Student Succeeds Act (20 U.S.C. § 6301 (2015). Teachers are evaluated through their student’s test scores and these scores determine if the school will be successful. It is hard to try to understand how to produce a high quality teacher but the right training and funding for necessary professional development will help guide teachers there.
This information allowed me to fully understand how the law breaks down what is funded and what is enforced in order to obtain more funding for new teachers.
Personally, I feel there is not enough funding that is going to targeting the whole teacher, including mental health and that is why education is losing teachers every year. I feel the pandemic has exacerbated these issues and we need more funding to figure out how to bring the teachers back with adequate trainings. I want to use my position to include more aspects of mental health when I train new teachers in order to prevent teacher burn out.

Padlet Slide #13 Bulleted list of Recommendations / Best Practices for Compliance:

avallejo25 — 2021-07-18 22:20:56 UTC

Professional development that focuses on IDEA and FERPA and best practices for high school ELA teachers
Meetings with stakeholders over teacher workload and class sizes to help ease workload
Include Instructional coach to meet with each teacher individually at least once a week, more if the teacher is struggling
Create plans of action with teacher and coach with detail list of needed resources
Meet with administrators, board, community to establish realistic expectations from teachers
Research and fund pandemic professional development to target returning students and teacher expectations
Seek funding resources to provide mental health resources to struggling teachers and include mental health breaks during stressful school periods.