Best interests of the student: an ethical model
| Pages | 197-214 |
| Published date | 01 April 2004 |
| Date | 01 April 2004 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230410525603 |
| Author | Jacqueline A. Stefkovich,G. Michaele O’Brien |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Best interests of the student:
an ethical model
Jacqueline A. Stefkovich and G. Michaele O’Brien
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
Keywords Human rights (law), Ethics, Equality, Leadership, Students,
United States of America
Abstract Shapiro and Stefkovich in their 2001 book on ethics propose a framework for
examining ethical dilemmas. At the heart of this conceptualization is “the best interests of the
student.” Yet a review of the literature reveals this term is interpreted broadly and few systematic
attempts have been made to define it. In response to this lack of clarity, the authors of this article
construct a model for determining what is in the best interests of the student when making various
types of ethical decisions in schools. This “Best Interests” model is based upon a new
conceptualization of the three Rs. Here, the correlates are rights, responsibilities, and respect. By
applying this model to the fact patterns of several US court decisions, the authors illustrate the
application of the ethical paradigms of justice, care, critique, community, and the profession.
Callahan, in his 1962 book, The Cult of Efficiency, criticized policy makers of the
public education system for concentrating too much on methods of making
schools more efficient. This paper builds on Callahan’s (1962) contention that
schools and the education system in general must focus on more than just
efficiency. We propose instead to focus on the ethical dimensions of educational
leadership as they relate to the student’s best interests and then apply this
model to legal decisions. This approach is appropriate in our view because in
the USA school leaders, in pursuit of efficient solutions, often turn to legalistic
approaches to resolve what may essentially be ethical dilemmas.
With these issues in mind, this paper is divided into four sections. The first
section provides an introduction and background to the purpose of this paper.
The next section describes the conceptual basis underlying both the ethical and
legal perspectives combined in this paper and how these two perspectives
converge around what is in the “best interests” of the student. The following
section presents a model for determining what actions are in the best interests
of students. The next section illustrates the application of this model to several
legal cases.
Introduction
Within the past decade, in the USA as well as other countries such as Canada,
there has been recognition of the need, as well as increased demand for training
courses in ethics for school professionals (Beck and Murphy, 1994; Shapiro and
Stefkovich, 2001; Walker, 1995, 1998). During this time, in the USA especially,
school law courses have remained a staple of many educational leadership
programs. When addressed in isolation from other functions of leadership, this
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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Best interests of
the student:
an ethical model
197
Journal of Educational
Administration
Vol. 42 No. 2, 2004
pp. 197-214
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0957-8234
DOI 10.1108/09578230410525603
legally focused training can create a tension for practitioners between the legal
and moral aspects of school leadership. Integrating the application of legal and
ethical decision-making models has the potential for allowing school leaders to
make better-informed choices as they resolve problems in practice.
This hybrid approach to resolving ethical dilemmas is a natural outgrowth
of our experiences teaching case law. There have always been actions on the
part of school personnel that courts have ruled as legal, which other educators
have criticized as unethical or simply bad practice. These types of cases have
long served as grist for vigorous classroom debate. Part of this tension lies in
the fact that courts have been hesitant to tie school officials’ hands when it
comes to making decisions related to practice.
There are a number of scholars who discuss ethics for educational leaders
from multiple paradigms, but they do not address legal responsibilities in any
detail (Beck and Murphy, 1994; Noddings, 1992, 2003; Shapiro and Stefkovich,
2001; Starratt, 1994). Strike et al. (1998) come closest to combining legal
dilemmas with ethical analyses, but their analysis focuses primarily on a
justice perspective. None of these publications, except Shapiro and Stefkovich
(2001) directly address the issue of what is in the best interests of the student. In
this sense, we believe this paper begins to fill an important gap in the
knowledge base and instruction of educational leaders.
At the same time, there has been a renewed interest in including ethics as
part of educators’ pre-service training. Impetus for this movement came about
after leaders in the field produced a number of papers on this topic (Beck and
Murphy, 1994; Noddings, 1984, 2003; Starratt, 1994). Interest increased
exponentially after the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC,
1996) in the USA released standards for the licensing of school administrators.
Standard 5 requires that school leaders promote the success of all students by
“acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner” (ISLLC, 1996, p. 18).
To meet this standard, school leaders are required to possess knowledge of
various ethical frameworks and perspectives on ethics, be committed to
bringing ethical principles to the decision-making process, and be committed to
developing a caring school community (ISSLLC, 1996. p. 18). These standards
are reflected in a licensing exam for school leaders developed by the
Educational Testing Service (ETS) and in college and university-based school
leader training program requirements as set forth by agencies such as the
National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).
In their book, Ethical Leadership and Decision Making in Education, Shapiro
and Stefkovich (2001) propose a framework for responding to ethical dilemmas.
Ethical paradigms based on models of justice, caring, and critique are merged
into a fourth paradigm, that of the profession. At the center of this
conceptualization is the “best interests of the student.” Educators have often
used this concept to justify important moral and ethical decisions; therefore it
seems apt that this concept would lie at the heart of a professional paradigm.
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