Lizbeth Ramirez

March 31st 2015

Psychology 682
MIDTERM EXAM

SHORT ANSWER: Summarize the codes or principles involved.

1. What are the general grounds and procedures for expelling students, and what are the
criteria and procedures involved in expulsion of a special needs student?
Principals have the authority to suspend students for 10 days or less if the student is
guilty of noncompliance with school rules or offenses related to weapons, drugs, vandalism,
violence or repeated use of obscene language. Particularly in schools whose state receives federal
funding, the No Child Left behind Act requires that a child who is found guilty of carrying a
firearm in school gets expelled for a period of no less than a year although the school
administrator may modify this on a case by case basis. Legally, a student must be given notice of
suspension and if the student disagrees with the accusations, explanation of evidence as well as a
chance to explain her/his side of the story must be provided. Expulsion requires action by the
school board. Because expulsion can be a trigger for suicide attempts, a childs parents must be
notified if the child is being removed from the school and the child should not be sent home to an
empty house.
Students with disabilities have more protections surrounding expulsions as congress
recognized that schools may use expulsion to exclude children with disabilities from public
schools. For example, if a child is removed from school for more than 10 days, s/he must be
provided with educational services for any subsequent days so as to ensure the child is
progressing toward meeting IEP goals. Furthermore, a manifestation determination must be

conducted within 10 days of the decision to change a childs placement to determine whether or
not the childs violation was a manifestation of his/her disability.
If the behavior was indeed a manifestation of the childs disability or the schools lack of
fidelity in implementing the childs IEP then the school must conduct a functional behavioral
assessment and implement or revise the existing IEP. The same procedure must also be used even
when the conduct is not

found to be a manifestation of the childs disability but in this

second case the child may be placed in a different setting. A child with a disability under IDEA
must continue to receive special education whereas a child with services under 504 can lose
his/her services as long as the same applies to nondisabled students.
2. Under what circumstances may a minor consent to his her or own mental health
treatment, without parental involvement being required?
A minor may receive psychological treatment without parental consent in emergency
situations and when a student self-refers, it is allowed to provide assistance without parent
permission for one or several meetings to establish the nature and degree of the need for services
as well as to ensure the child is not a danger to self or others. Furthermore, most states allow
minors access to treatment without consent for conditions such as alcohol and drug abuse as well
as mental health treatment.
3. What is your ethical obligation in establishing your relationship with a student you are
going to assess? Briefly describe what you might say (and perhaps ask) in doing so and
how that vary by developmental and cognitive level.
It is important to establish rapport with the student and gain the active cooperation of said
student. Although the student is not allowed to assent or refuse services, s/he has a right to be
fully informed about the assessment process. I would explain to the student, using language that

s/he will understand, about how the assessment results will be used, who will receive information
and the possible implications of the results. Even younger children and developmentally disabled
children should get an explanation about why they are seeing the school psychologist. I might
ask the child first if s/he knows why s/he is seeing me and after explaining the reasons and the
assessment process to the child, I would then ask if s/he has any questions about what I
explained.
4. What are the laws relevant to the use of physical restraint, force, or punishment of
students in California?
Following the enactment of the Hughes bill in 1990, it is illegal in California to use
physical restraint, force or punishment with students in California. The only time physical
restraint or seclusion may be used is when the child is exhibiting unexpected and dangerous
behavior that may pose a threat to the student or others and for which a behavioral plan is not in
place. If restraint or seclusion are to be used in these emergency situations they must only be
used by trained professionals, seclusion must not be in a locked facility, restraint should not be
exercised using force that does not exceed what is reasonably necessary, deprive the child of
basic needs such as water or shelter nor should it cause the child humiliation. Generally it is best
practice to use positive behavior interventions and attempt to develop a plan to improve the
childs behavior rather than applying aversive consequences such as physical restraint or
punishment.
The use of punishment and other aversive consequences has many negative consequences
for children which include traumatization of trauma victims, serious physical injury and
psychological damage. Although is emergency situations, punishment or physical restraint may
be the fastest way to cease a behavior it is counterproductive in the long run. It not only causes

physical and psychological damage but it does not teach the child more adaptive behaviors and
undermines the building of trusting relationships.
5. In light of legal requirements and relevant ethical considerations, what will be role as a
school psychologist regarding the possibility of a suicidal student?
If a child is possibly suicidal, as a school psychologist I must perform a lethality
assessment preferably with another professional and then regardless of whether the risk is
determined to be low or high, I would notify the parent. If the student is high-risk s/he should not
be left alone. My goal when informing the parents, should be to ensure they understand the
seriousness of the situation as well as to elicit a supportive reaction from them. I would advise
the family to increase supervision to make sure the student does not have access to means of selfharm. Finally, I would refer the family to a professional in the community to ensure the child
gets the help that s/he needs. I would also document all my actions so that I am certain I took all
the appropriate steps in dealing with suicide threat.
SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS ESSAYS: For each scenario, be sure to include 1) the relevant
legal principles and possible implications; 2) the possible ethical implications; 3) your probable
actions, and/or all considerations which would guide your actions.
6. The parents of a teenage girl whom you have been counseling come to your office and
demand to know whether their child has talked about being sexually active. She is, and
has talked about it with you. They also demand to see your file and cumulative record.
What would your legal and ethical concerns be in terms of the daughters sexual activity,
and in terms of the parents requests?

In this case I would be concerned with confidentiality and privacy of the client. I would
not want to break the clients trust but legally, given that the girl is a minor, she has no right to
confidentiality independent of her parents. I would explain to the parents that it would be
detrimental to the student and school psychologist relationship to disclose what the student has
shared in the counseling sessions without the students consent. I would reassure them that if their
daughter was in danger I would notify them immediately.
In deciding whether or not to disclose this information I would consider the childs age,
level of maturity and whether or not she was self-referred. I would also consider whether or not
the student would be in danger if I were to disclose this information to the parents. Although I
would be respectful of the parents concern, I would be worried that given they are demanding to
see the records and that I disclose confidential information they may not be prepared to hear that
indeed their daughter is sexually active. Since I have a duty to protect I would want to make
sure that telling the parents would not place the student in danger. As stated before, I would
consider the childs level of maturity and if I knew she was mature and not putting herself at risk
when engaging in sexual activity, I would ask her if she would consent to me divulging to her
parents some of the information we have discussed in our sessions in order to respect her
autonomy and to allow her to make an informed decision. I would talk to the student about the
reason for disclosure, possible repercussions of disclosing the information and how to minimize
any possible negative consequences if she agreed to disclose the information.
Given that FERPA requires that parents are allowed access to educational records I would
allow the parents to see the students cumulative record but I would not give them access to my
file as sole possession records are not included as part of the educational record.

Overall, I would do my best to maintain student/psychologist confidentiality and would

aim not to share information with the parents unless the child consented to me sharing that
information and I would ensure that whatever decision I made was absolutely in the childs best
interest.
7. You work in a public high school and have been providing counseling services to Tom, a
15 year-old male student, for half a year. Though Tom plays sports and is well-liked by
the school faculty and staff, he has stated you are the only adult he trusts. Six months ago,
he was placed in a foster home after getting into physical fight with his stepfather. He is
not in special education, however, a referral has been sent to the buildings pre-referral
intervention team regarding Toms poor math skills. He is currently flunking math, which
is a graduation requirement and impacts his eligibility to play sports. When Tom fails to
qualify as a student with learning disabilities, Toms coach, is livid. He contacts the
mother and the principal to tell them to bring an advocate to the multidisciplinary team
and to ask for an external second evaluation.
In this case I would consider the ethical principles of fairness and justice and respect for
law and the relationship of law and ethics. I would want to make sure that the child is not being
unjustly placed in special education to ensure that he is in the least restrictive environment. I
would review the childs assessment including observations, tests, rating scales and information I
have gathered in counseling sessions to ensure that indeed he does not qualify for special
education in order to avoid keeping the student from receiving services that would ensure the
child has an equal opportunity for success. I would also want to consider whether or not the
coach wants to give the student preferential treatment since he is well liked and plays sports. I
think that the concern regarding preferential treatment is valid as it seems that there are other

factors influencing the students performance in math. It is possible that environmental factors at
home are negatively impacting his academic success. It would be necessary to consider whether
ethical principles conflict with the law. Is what is in the childs best interest legal?
I would likely recommend an intervention to help with the students math grade to ensure
the child is receiving the services necessary to succeed. I think based on the instability the child
is experiencing at home, he would benefit from stability at school. Thus given that he was found
not to qualify as a student with learning disabilities, it is best to make small but helpful changes
to help him improve his math grade so that he can remain in sports. This will allow the student to
maintain his relationships with team mates and the coach and since he will not be placed in a
separate special education classroom, he will be able to maintain established relationships with
his current teachers and classmates who will likely serve as a support system during the students
time of need. I would do this to work toward promoting a school, family and community
environment that is safe and healthy for the child to the best of my ability.
8. You are a school psychologist in a small rural district. Suppose that the director of special
education states that there is not enough funding to buy the updated version of the
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. So she has asked you to continue giving the old
version until further notice. In the meantime, you notice that a disproportionate number
of minority students, including students with ELL backgrounds are qualified for special
education.

I would discontinue assessment and suggest ways to raise funds to buy the updated
version of the Stanford-Binet intelligence test. In the meantime I would look for other available
measures that are up to date on the norms so that I am being fair and just in my assessment this

would align with principle I.3. In order to exercise responsible assessment practice I would have
to discontinue using the outdated Stanford-Binet because if a disproportionate number of
minority students are being qualified for special education, then it is likely that the test is not
valid for these children and it is probably due to outdated norms. I would also make sure to find
out if the kids with ELL have made sufficient progress in English to be tested in English
otherwise I would use nonverbal tests with these kids.
According to ethical principles of psychologists and the code of conduct I must avoid
harm and in the case of these students, were I to continue using the outdated Stanford-Binet I
could potentially harm them. By erroneously placing them in special education when they do not
belong I would be doing these kids a disservice. It is unethical to base assessment or intervention
decisions on outdated tests and so it would be best not to use the outdated version of the test that
the district has.