<p> The purpose of this grounded theory qualitative study is to examine how principals in a large suburban school district in the Northwest United States, define their educational ethical philosophy and the role of their own morals and values in the development of this philosophy. It will also explore what role their ethical personal morals and values affect their ethical philosophy within their leadership through the daily decisions they make and how the role of ethics by principals are situated within the scope of the ethics of justice, care, critique, community, and profession based upon their decision-making as defined by Shapiro (2006), Shapiro and Stefkovich (2011), and Shapiro and Gross (2013). </p><p> Today, school structures are increasingly more complex and as a result pressure on principals to lead ethically is a key factor for student achievement outcome (Shapiro &amp; Stefkovich, 2011). Growing demands in educational reform are creating increased uncertainty of leadership direction within the role of the school principal (Garrett-Staib &amp; Maninger, 2012). These ethical conflicts dramatically affect decision-making by principals, which may ultimately detrimentally affect the lives of students in our educational system. This may be a result of principals making decisions based upon their own morals and values, conflicting directly with actual student need. Findings in this particular study include at least 38 identified values and 36 identified morals with little commonality between the principals interviewed. These findings in this study evoke a strong indication of the influence personal morals and values on the role of school principal.</p>

<p> This is a normative ethical analysis of school discipline policies. The overarching objective of this work is to inform school practices that directly benefit students. Chapter one examines the current state and practices of student discipline within schools. It focuses upon the pervasive use of suspensions to deal with non-violent student offenses and the adverse consequences that result from the applications of suspensions. Chapter two analyses three theoretical frameworks as they inform the developmental of a threshold for the ethical application of punishment. Developmental liberalism informs the understanding of the role that schools have in exhausting educative measures before the use of force, Self-Determination theory provides the foundation for psychologically nurturing school environments as necessary for the curtailing of adverse student behaviors, and School Community theory acknowledges the essential aspects of curriculum in engaging students. Chapter three sets forth a model for making ethical decisions within schools, and provides an analysis of principles and educational aims that directly inform this process. Chapter four explores the "crime and punishment" phenomenon within school discipline and provides the theoretical rationale that is offered to support such arguments. The chapter concludes with a discussion of when, if ever, it is appropriate to suspend students from school. Chapter five examines existing approaches to student discipline that align with the requirements of the threshold for ethical application of discipline and a well-informed ethical decision making process. </p>