Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions about Ethical Practices in Student Evaluation

Abstract

In this study, 264 pre-service teachers responded to a survey by marking whether they perceived example evaluation scenarios to have ethical or unethical actions by an educator. Results indicate that pre-service teachers had high agreement in 53% of the scenarios, and were in high disagreement regarding 17% of the scenarios. Chi-square analysis comparing elementary and middle/secondary pre-service teachers found significantly different responses in 17% of the scenarios. In each of these cases, elementary pre-service teachers had a higher percentage of participants deeming a scenario as ethical than those in the middle/secondary group. Discussion includes the need for teacher preparation programs to explicitly address ethical conduct with pre-service teachers, including ongoing discussion and reflection throughout the program.