Ethics and Law for School Psychologists, 8th Edition

Chapter 12 ETHICS, LAW, AND ADVOCACY

Dana E. BoccioLead Author

The profession of school psychology has a long tradition of involvement in advocacy as is evident from its history of contributing to both individual- and systems-level efforts to better the lives of students and their families (Franks-Thomas et al., 2020; Ramage & Florell, 2018). For decades, school psychologists have worked to improve students’ academic, behavioral, and social-emotional outcomes by ensuring equal educational opportunities for all children, advancing valid and nondiscriminatory assessment practices, identifying effective instructional strategies, and promoting a greater emphasis on mental health in the schools (J. S. Braden et al., 2001; Shriberg et al., 2008). Advocacy is not only a central mission and core value of the profession (National Association of School Psychologists [NASP], 2017c), it is also an ethical imperative. The NASP’s Principles for Professional Ethics (2020) states, “School psychologists consider the interests and rights of children and youth to be their highest priority in decision making and act as advocates for all students” (p. 39; also Standard III.2.3). In addition, consistent with the general ethical principle of responsible caring and our commitment to building the capacity of systems, practitioners promote scientifically sound school policies to enhance the welfare of students. They also are encouraged to work as advocates for change at the state and national level ...