Moral Reasoning Essays
A. Moral Dilemma Essay
Every high school senior class has a valedictorian and a salutatorian. The position is
extremely prestigious and honorable. The students work hard for four years to maintain
their grade point averages in hopes of one day being the best in the class, our school is no
different. In most classes there is no disputing who will be valedictorian and salutatorian
however every now and then it’s too close to call. In one class, two students alternated
back and forth each year.
Our system ranks students by their academic progress while there in high school. If there
is a break in their enrollment during their high school years they will be ineligible for
ranking. This is done to prevent a student who has only been in the school for a short
period of time to be included in the running for valedictorian and salutatorian. Students
are well aware that if they enroll in another school, in or out of the district, they will no
longer be eligible for ranking.
In this particular class, there was a student who had held the top GPA for her class since
her freshman year. She was a very reserved, hard working, and sweet young lady who
was well rounded both academically and athletically.
In their sophomore year, another young lady enrolls in our school. She came from a
specialty school in the same district. Her enrollment had been terminated by the school
because of a behavioral incident forcing her to enroll in her school of origin. The school
which she was terminated from was for academically gifted public school students. Her
mother had no say so in the termination; it was final. So, her mother enrolls her in the
comprehensive school with the goal of her becoming the valedictorian of the school by
her senior year.
The mother was determined that her child would obtain the top rank. She monitored her
daughter’s grades every nine weeks. It came to my attention from several of her teacher
that the mother was questioning any grade her daughter got that was below an “A” and
was pressuring the teachers to change the grades. By the time I became aware of it, she
had been doing it for at least a year.
Moral Dilemma: Should I publicly address the parent’s behavior with the school
principal and request that all of her grades be reviewed or should I work to ensure that
this does not happen again?
Lisa Coles
Moral Reasoning Essays
B. Discovery Essay
In addressing this issue, I have to evaluate how this parent’s actions are not only
benefiting her daughter but how they are negatively affecting another student who is just
as deserving. Although her actions are not illegal, they are clearly unethical. My goal as
a school counselor is to instill in my students positive values such as honesty, fairness,
consideration, and integrity. This parent’s behavior flies in the face of everything that I
have worked to instill in my students.
I am concerned about the impact it could have on both young ladies and the school.
What the parent has been doing has not been widely known in our building; therefore
teachers are beginning to share similar incidences about this parent with one another. I
suppose it won’t be much longer before the students get wind of it. Danni is a very
congenial student. If the student body found out what Andrea’s mother had been doing,
we would be concerned about the student backlash and the tension it will create amongst
the student. If not handled properly, Danni’s mother may even contest the validity of the
ranking.
Unfortunately, the damage has been done. The new grade point averages have been
released for the rising senior class and Andre’s grade point average exceeds Danni’s by
.025. Andre’s is now in line to be the valedictorian. However the margin is so slim that
Danni may still have a chance to raise her grade point average at the end of first semester.
I want to avoid bringing unwanted attention to this dilemma while ensuring that no
further grade tampering occurs. These measures will be put in place before the school
year begins to guarantee there will be no more grade tampering by parents.
Lisa Coles
Moral Reasoning Essays
In order to accomplish this, I propose a staff development which will address the
importance of keeping accurate grades, managing and recording graded assignments,
emphasizing the importance of grade verification before report card are released and how
to deal with parental conflict. Also, it will also be emphasized in the meeting that our
administration will back and support your grades as long as you have proper record
keeping of the grades.
A positive outcome of this solution is that I can assume that through this staff
development the teachers will gain the necessary tools to combat being questioned about
the validity of their grades. They will also learn techniques on how to properly deal with
irate and/or pushy parents. This should decrease the pressure teachers may get from
parents to change a grade because they have been trained on how to communicate with
the parent and there grade are accurate and diligently recorded.
The gain in having this work shop is it will increase the validity of the teachers’
grades. They will be able to support every student’s grade with documentation. When
this dilemma was brought to my attention, the principal and I had to speak with one of
Andrea’s teachers because she claimed that the “B” she got in the teachers class was not a
fair grade. When the principal and I spoke to her teacher, his grading system was so
unorganized that he could not locate the student’s assignment to show justification for the
grade. The principal had no choice but to honor the mother’s request for the grade to be
changed to an “A”. This is why I have stressed that the teachers keep meticulous records
of student grades. I have yet to find a negative implication for the training. If this
training is successful, it will give students the opportunity to be fairly recognized for their
academic achievement.
Lisa Coles
Moral Reasoning Essays
Students deserve to be treated fairly and with equity. The parent is the student’s first
role model; they watch their parents to see how they navigate through situations and then
they mimic the behaviors. Andrea’s mother should have not been driven by her
daughter’s academic success that subsequently causes her to do some unethical things; so
that her daughter could move ahead. More over parents should not cheat for your
children. My moral rule: Allow your children to get what they have earned.
I did not choose to publicly challenge the validity of the grades Andrea had been given.
I did see the benefit to the students affected. I believe it would have caused a lot of hard
feeling and denials. Furthermore, it would have disrupted the learning environment. I
stand by my decision because once implemented, it should stop this from happening
again.
Ethically, the argument could be raised that Andrea’s mother was acting on behalf of
her daughter and did nothing wrong. She was just working the system. It could be said
that she did not make the teachers change the grades that was their choice. The squeaky
wheel gets the oil; however, if by harming someone else, you are able to get ahead and I
don’t believe that it is reflective of an ethical or equitable solution.
The Process Theories of Motivation can explain her rationale behind why she did what
she did. The Equity Theory states that people pay close attention to the outcomes they
receive from their work environment, and they weigh these outcomes, consciously or sub
consciously, against the inputs that they put in their work to achieve them (Stacy Adams).
It could be possible that the mother is operating under this theory. She may believe that
she is creating equity in her daughter’s situation. She may have had positive outcomes in
the past by doing this very same thing and is why she continues to behave in this manner.
Lisa Coles
Moral Reasoning Essays
Should I publicly address the parent’s behavior with the school principal and request that
all of her grades be reviewed or should I work to ensure that this does not happen again?
The values that I discussed in my discovery essay in rank order are
Honesty
Integrity
Fairness
Consideration (of the feelings of others)
The parent should not have harassed the teachers into changing her daughters grades
Parents should allow their children to have what they earn.
Lisa Coles
Moral Reasoning Essays
C. Justification Essay
The ISLLC Standard 5 speaks to why I as an administrator would need to address this is,
it states “A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all
students by acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner.
My judgment is that the parent was wrong for coercing the teachers into changing her
daughter’s grades. It is important for students to understand the difference between right
and wrong from someone they trust, someone they look up to, and someone they mimic.
If Andrea begins to use the same tactics as her mother to get ahead what kind of person
will she grow up to be? I’m not sure if Andrea knows how manipulating her mother is.
An alternative outcome is that she realizes what her mother has been doing and
disapproves of it, shunning her mother for her actions.
Standard 5 clearly states that it is the administrator who must act with integrity fairness
in an ethical manner. That is why I would have to address this issue. The integrity of the
system is on the line if we allow a student to outrank another using the tactics that
Andrea’s mother used. It would not be fair if I continue letting the parent manipulate her
daughter’s grade. Her manipulation not only affects her daughter; it affects the other
students as well. As Andrea’s grade point average moves her up the ranking it will also
move student down. It will affect the classroom. Her classmates may know what she has
done in class and notice that her grade did not reflect her work. Ethically I had no choice
but to address this issue because there is another student out there without a voice who
does not have a parent that will come to the school to fight for her/him to be treated
fairly. The administrator’s job is to promote integrity and fairness.
Lisa Coles
Moral Reasoning Essays
On the other side of the coin, the mother could say that she has done nothing wrong
and that the teachers are not diligent in regards to the grading and retaining student work.
Mom can use the one incident where the teacher did not keep an accurate grade book as a
catalyst to support her claim that if one teacher made an error in her daughter’s grade
because of his negligence then that means she has to be diligent and scrutinize all of her
grades? That is why I chose to address the dilemma through staff development training.
I would respond to these objections by making sure that neither she nor any other
parent in the future could use these methods to get their children’s grades changed
through staff training. In addition, I would not buy into her assumption. I would stand
firm that one isolated incident does not tarnish the integrity of the entire staff.
My views on moral judgment have changed since going through this process. In my
case study what I deem to be morally wrong, the parent my not have agreed. Morality
not be defined by one person’s view, nor can society regulate or dictate morality. I
believe that people create their own morality based on their environment, values and
beliefs.
The process of writing these moral reasoning essays help me to create my own case
study. Creating my own moral dilemma was a novel approach to going through the
process case evaluation. I got to lay out dilemma, summarize it, and then take some time
to brainstorm ideas and possible resolutions and offer proposals. Thought provoking
question were provided to help me delve deeper into the nuisances of the case. I was also
challenged to use paradigms and theories to help support my rationale. In the last essay,
I had to defend and justify my judgment. I used ethical paradigms and theories to
support my decision. I defended my judgment by using theories for that as well.
Lisa Coles
Moral Reasoning Essays
Finally, I was asked to review my writing to ensure that I did not violate any of my
stated values in the Discovery Essay.
Lisa Coles