Ethical Decision Making in School Administration

Paul A. Wagner, Ph.D., is Director of the Project inProfessional Ethics, University of Houston-Clear Lake and a professor in theeducational leadership program. He has also taught economics for undergraduatesand business management theory and organizational behavior to business graduatestudents at the University of Houston-Victoria. He is a former ExecutiveSecretary of the Philosophy of Education Society, vice-president of theAssociation of Philosophers in Education and served on the national ethicscommittee of the 40,000 member Association of Public Administrators. He was afounding member of the State of Texas’Annual Ethics workshop for senior level officials. He has served as aconsultant to a number of major corporations, universities, medical schools andtechnical schools in the area of strategic planning. He is the author of Understanding Professional Ethics, a PhiDelta Kappan fastback and the author of over 80 articles, book chapters, essayreviews and so on. He has served as an ethics consultant to both LeadershipHouston and the American Leadership Forum. Douglas J. Simpson, Ph. D., isProfessor and Helen DeVitt Jones Chair in Teacher Education, Texas Tech University.  He is the author or co-author of numerousarticles, reviews, chapters and books, including John Dewey and the Art of Teaching, The Pedagodfathers: The Lords of Education, Recreating Schools: PlacesWhere Everyone Learns and Likes It, The Teacher as Philosopher, and Educational Reform: A Deweyan Perspective. He has held tenured positions at the University of Louisville,Memorial University of Newfoundland, Tennessee State University, and Texas ChristianUniversity and taught inthe fields of ethics and teaching, curriculum and instruction, schoolpsychology, and educational theory. He spends time each week at Phyllis Wheatley Elementary Schoolwhere he interacts with students about ethical, historical, and geographicalinterests. He is a former president of the American Educational StudiesAssociation and the Society of Professors of Education.

• Preface1. Leaders, Ethics, and Schools: A Search for Clarity2. Moral Theory3. Leadership as Moral Architecture4. Taking on the Big Challenge of School and District Administration5. The Costs and Benefits of Inclusion6. Factors to Consider When Making Judgments About Controversial Issues7. The Pragmatic Value of Justice for All8. The Role of Law in Moral EvaluationAppendix A. Additional Case Studies in Educational LeadershipAppendix B. American Association of School Administrators Statement of Ethics for Educational LeadersAppendix C. National Education Association Code of Ethics of the Education ProfessionAppendix D. National School Boards Association Code of Ethics for School Board MembersGlossaryReferencesIndexAbout the AuthorsAbout the Case Study Authors