Code of Conduct

Be Respectful: Avoid challenging or attacking others. The goal of discussions and comments is to stimulate conversation, not create contention. Respect everyone’s right to share their thoughts. 

No Commercial Messages: Do not post promotional content, advertisements, or solicitations in any discussion forum, resource library, or elsewhere in the community. The All-Member Forum is for discussions, not marketing, fundraising, or lead generation. If you believe someone might benefit from information about a product or service, please reach out to them privately. 

No Job Postings: Job recruitment should be directed to the CEC Career Center, not the discussion forums. 

Research Participation Posts: Members must obtain approval from Derek Govin’s CEC Communications Manager (dgovan@exceptionalchildren.org) at least three weeks before posting any messages inviting members to participate in a research project or survey. You will need to submit an IRB approval document (confirming the study is focused on special education and directed at special educators), a brief description of your study, and the requested posting date. Any research participation posts made without prior approval will be removed. 

Respectful Content: Do not post defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal content. Only post what you would be comfortable with everyone seeing and knowing you authored. 

Copyright Ownership: Be aware of the copyright rules listed in the disclaimer below. All posts must comply with copyright laws. 

Right to Reproduce: Other members have the right to reproduce your posts unless you specifically request otherwise. 

Post Appropriately: Share your message or document only in the most relevant discussion lists or libraries. Avoid spamming multiple lists with the same content. 

Contribute Meaningfully: All messages should add value to the community’s body of knowledge. CEC reserves the right to reject any message for any reason. 

Signature: Include a signature tag in all messages, which should include your name, affiliation, and location. 

Clear Subject Lines: State the topic of your message clearly in the subject line. This helps members respond appropriately and search the archives more easily. 

Reply Appropriately: When replying to a message, include only the relevant portions of the original message. Remove any unnecessary header information, and position your response before the original message. 

Avoid Over-Sending: Send messages like “thanks” or “me too” directly to individuals, not to the entire list. Use the “Reply to Sender” link for such responses. 

Administrative Messages: Do not send administrative requests (e.g., “remove me from the list”) to the entire list. Instead, use the web interface to update your settings. 

Warn About Length: If your message is lengthy, indicate it in the subject line or at the beginning of your message (e.g., “Long Message”). 

No Defamatory or Illegal Material: Do not post defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials. Do not post content protected by copyright unless you have permission from the copyright owner. By posting content, you confirm that you either own the copyright or have received permission from the copyright holder. 

Free Trade and Antitrust Compliance: Do not post messages that facilitate agreements that may violate antitrust laws, such as price fixing or market allocation. 

Editorial Control: CEC reserves the right to monitor, edit, or remove content that violates these guidelines. Inappropriate content will be addressed accordingly.