ELS 657: Public School Law 1 ELS 657: Public School Law 3.0 Credit Hours Fall 2010 Instructor: Text: Dr. Jennifer Sughrue (757) 683-5922 jsughrue@odu.edu Alexander, K. & Alexander, M. D. (2009). American Public School Law (7th ed.) Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. ISBN: 0-495-50619-2 Supplemental Resources: Related federal and state statutory and case law Virginia statutory and case law Various Virginia school district policies APA Manual, 6th edition CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE DARDEN COLLEGE OF EDUCATION Old Dominion University s major purpose in its education program is to prepare individuals who have knowledge of their discipline, ability to practice state-of-the-art instruction with students of various cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, and attitudes that reflect commitment to teaching and learning as well as lifelong professional growth and development. The Conceptual Framework, Educator as Professional, reflects the development of professional educators who can use their pedagogical and academic abilities to educate all students. Description: Lecture 3 hours; 3 credits. Prerequisites: ELS 600 This course is an introduction to law, particularly with respect to federal and state statutes and court decisions dealing with the public schools. The topics span the full spectrum of law-related concerns. By necessity, it is first a theoretical course; however, the outcomes are intended to be practical by providing the legal understanding necessary for a school administrator to negotiate his or her way through the maze of difficult legal and ethical matters commonly faced each day. Purpose: The purpose of this course is to introduce the learner to the basic and current legal and ethical concepts that face American education today. The course will assist the learner to (a) recognize ethical and legal issues, (b) develop analytical skills in order to think more clearly and confidently about legal and ethical issues, (c) develop the ability to make professional decisions from a legal and/or ethical perspective, and (d) further enhance those skills necessary for successfully completing the program in educational leadership. To those ends, a great deal of emphasis is placed on self-directed learning, legal research, good writing, and class participation.
ELS 657: Public School Law 2 Rationale: The law related to education is constantly changing and becoming more complex. Our society has become increasingly litigious in the last quarter century. Local, state, and federal legislative and executive bodies are constantly making decisions that have an impact on the law of public education. This course is intended to assist candidates to develop a basic understanding of the legal system and its impact upon education. Candidates will learn about the legal issues that have an impact on instruction, school operations and management, and federal, state, and local governance. Candidates will be able to identify the processes of educational policy development at the state, local, and school level and the importance of implementing educational policy from an ethical and/or legal perspective. Performance Evidence: ISLLC Standard 3.2: Manage operations. Candidates will demonstrate an understanding of how to apply legal principles to promote an effective learning environment through writing case briefs detailing points of administrative management of the organization (3.2.c). ISLLC Standard 3.3: Manage resources. Candidates will use problem-solving skills and knowledge of legal principles through case studies that demonstrate operational planning of an effective school environment (3.3.a). ISLLC Standard 5.3 Acts ethically. Candidates will review school law cases and write briefs explaining decisions based on legal principles (5.3.a). ISLLC Standard 6.1: Understand the larger context. Candidates will act as consumers of school law by completing a field-based service research project that will benefit the legal operation of the school or school division at large. The project will be approved by an administrator within the school division and by the professor and must include a meeting with members of a school community group (6.1.a). ISLLC Standard 6.2: Respond to the larger context. Candidates demonstrate the ability to communicate with members of a school community regarding the field-based service research project concerning the potential changes needed in the school or in the school division (6.2.a). ISLLC Standard 6.3: Influence the larger context. As a part of the field-based service research project candidates will apply their understanding of the legal system to develop activities and policies that benefit the school or school division (6.3.b). Course Requirements: 1. LiveText. The purchase and/or use of LiveText (Approved Web-based Portfolio Assessment system) is required for this course. This must be purchased either from ODU bookstore or at http://c1.livetext.com. You do NOT need the subscription with Unitedstreaming.
ELS 657: Public School Law 3 2. Reading. Text readings are indicated in the schedule below. The number in parentheses in the column labeled Readings indicates the number of pages to be covered. This should aid students in planning sufficient time to read for understanding. Check "Course Information" the Blackboard course site frequently to see if additional readings, such as cases, statutes, or other materials have been added to chapter folders. 3. Research Project. The student will meet with a school administrator (principal or higher) to seek to learn the areas and issues in public school law that the administrator believes the novice administrator should be proficient in on the first day of duty. The student will then select an issue identified in the discussion with the administrator, one that the student finds particularly interesting, and will create a scenario with an accompanying legal question that an administrator might pose to his/her legal counsel regarding the problem area. The student will prepare a legal opinion brief in response to the posed question. The student will define the issue in the scenario, will discuss the appropriate statutory and case law (and board policy, if appropriate) that address the issue, and will render a recommendation for a course of action to remedy the problem posed. The student also will use the Virginia Education Code, when applicable. The brief should be no less than five (5) double-spaced pages and contain a minimum of five (5) legal references. It should not exceed 10 pages. Students may submit a draft of their paper for feedback prior to the due date. If they wish to do so, the draft MUST be submitted by 9am on November 29th, via email. The project topic/issue must be submitted to the instructor for approval no later than 9am, September 20th. The completed project must be submitted to the instructor via LiveText. The paper will account for 30% of the student's final grade. (6.1.a, 6.2.a, 6.3.b) 4. Discussion Questions. During the course, two discussion questions will be posted to Blackboard. All students are expected to reflective upon and respond to each question and to react to the postings of other students for each question. In other words, students should carefully read the discussion question, consider and craft an answer to it, and then read and respond to what has been posted by other students. The instructor will look for evidence of each student's legal and ethical knowledge and for quality in the contributions. Opinions are welcomed but must be grounded in the student s knowledge of educational law and its practice in schools and school districts. Students are encouraged to cite case or statutory law and other sources in their responses. Each discussion question is worth 10% of the final grade, for a total of 20%. (5.3a, 6.1.b) 5. News Summaries. There are three news summaries required over the period of the course (see Course Outline). Students are to search out school law stories that are associated with the topics being covered in class, and then write a short summary of the issue/problem and its implications for school leaders. The summaries should be no longer than one or two pages. The news stories can be collected from any reputable source (e.g., newspapers, educational periodicals, or educational or legal web pages). Each summary should include a complete and proper citation of the source of the news story. The three summaries together are 15% of the final grade. (3.3.a) 6. Embedded Learning Strategy Clock Hours (10 Hours). Be prepared to talk about what you observed and learned, relative to their legal aspects, during the appropriate class period.
ELS 657: Public School Law 4 Attend IEP meeting (noting legal applications of course content) Observe disciplinary procedures for a variety of offenses (minor to major) Speak to VEA representative and an administrator regarding teacher dismissal 7. Final Exam. There will be a comprehensive multiple choice final exam posted on Blackboard during the final evening of class. It will be worth 25% of the students' final grade. (6.1a, 6.1b, 6.1d) 8. Class Participation. Class participation is essential to learning the basic principles of school law. Students will be expected to interact with their classmates and discuss the concepts and questions that arise. A major part of participation is preparing for class. The assigned chapters in the text must be read before class. Class participation will represent 10% the student s final grade for the course. (5.3.a) 9. Audio/Visual Technology. All students will be expected to have stable and steady access to a computer and to an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Adobe Connect is the venue for synchronous class meetings. Blackboard will be the venue for asynchronous class meetings. Students must have the capacity to access the Internet to conduct database searches, to send and receive email with attachments, and to complete on-line assignments. Only the odu.edu email addresses will be used by the instructor. If a student uses another ISP, he or she will have to set up the email system to receive odu.edu mail. Anticipate problems with technology. Never leave an electronic assignment to the last minute. Invariably something will go wrong, yet students will be expected to complete assignments on time. MS Office 2007 will be used by the instructor during the semester. Students should have Adobe Acrobat Reader. Reader is available to download for free from the Acrobat web page, http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. This software will allow the student to read and print pdf files. Norton Utilities, McAfee, or other adequate anti-virus software must be utilized by the student. Due effort should be made to ensure files sent to the instructor and classmates are virus free. Likewise, good virus protection will clean or delete corrupt files sent by others. Due Dates for Assignments: News Summaries: Discussion Questions: Research Project: 1 Final Exam: 9/20, 10/25, and 11/29, by 9am, via email. 9/27, 11/08, by 10pm, Discussion Board on Bb. 2/06, 9am, via LiveText. From 4pm,12/10/10, to midnight,12/12/10, on Bb. Topic Module/Date Readings Introductions & Expectations The Legal System (Chapter 1) #1 08/30/10 Syllabus & Documents on Blackboard (Bb) Pp. 1-19 (19)
ELS 657: Public School Law 5 Historical Perspective (2) Pp. 21-67 (47) Virginia Education Code Role of Federal Government (3) Governance of Public Schools (4) Church and State (5) Part 1 How to Read Case Law #2 09/06/10 #3 09/13/10 Link on Bb Pp. 69-111 (43) Pp. 115-168 (54) Pp. 171-228 (58) Docs on Bb
ELS 657: Public School Law 6 Topic Module/Date Readings Church and State (5) Part 2 News Summary (#1) due 9am, email Topic for Research Project due 9am #4 09/20/10 Pp. 228-283 (56) Syllabus Ethical Leadership Discussion Question #1 to be completed on Bb by 10pm #5 9/27/10 Module on Bb Discussion Board School Attendance (6) #6 10/04/10 Pp. 290-341 (52) Fall Holiday 10/11/10 Student Rights: Speech, Expression, and Privacy (8) #7 10/18/10 Pp. 413-498 (86) Student Rights: Common Law, Due Process, and Statutory Protections (9) Be prepared to share your experience observing disciplinary procedures. News Summary (#2) due 9am, email (Chpt 8 or 9) #8 10/25/10 Pp. 501-558 (58) Rights of Students w/ Disabilities (10) Be prepared to share your experience observing an IEP meeting Focus on Research Project (Individual consults upon request) The Instructional Program (7) Practice on-line exam (available 4pmmidnight) Teacher Rights and Freedoms (15) Voluntary submission of research project drafts for feedback by 9am, via email Due Process Rights of Teachers (16) Defamation & Student Records (12) News Summary (#3) due 9am, email (Chpts 15 or 16) #9 11/01/10 #10 11/08/10 #11 11/15/10 #12 11/22/10 #13 11/29/10 Pp. 561-634 (73) Pp. 344-410 (67) Bb Pp. 827-884 (58) Pp. 887-917 (31) Pp. 690-728 (39)
ELS 657: Public School Law 7 Topic Module/Date Readings Discrimination in Employment Research projects due by 9am, via LiveText #14 12/06/10 Pp. 919-978 (60) On-line Final Exam #15 12/10/10-12/12/10 On Bb Submitting Assignments: With the exception of the research project and discussion questions, all written assignments are to be submitted electronically (email) to jsughrue@odu.edu. The attached file should be labeled with the student's last name, first initial, and due date. For example, if a student named Judith Ashton were submitting a news summary that was due on October 18th, the summary (which would be a word file) would be named ashtonj_10_18. Putting this information on the subject line of the email is not sufficient. It is the assignment (document) itself that must be labeled as such. If assignments are not properly labeled, they will be ignored and the sender(s) will be advised that the assignments need to be resubmitted with the correct file name. This could result in an assignment arriving after the due date and time. Writing assignments will be reviewed within 7 days unless otherwise stipulated. The instructor will acknowledge having received the assignment within 24 hours. If no notice from the instructor is received, please check with the instructor to make sure the assignment arrived or to check to see if there was a problem. Discussion questions will be reviewed once the due dates have passed. The instructor may choose to participate in the discussions if there is evidence of a clear misunderstanding of the law by one or more of the students. All assignments are expected to be completed by the established due dates and times. Of course, any assignment may be completed prior to the deadline. Office Hours: The instructor expects every student to succeed and will endeavor to assist each student by providing adequate feedback in a timely fashion. The instructor has posted office hours, but will schedule appointments at other times when students request them. Virtual Office Hours: Mondays 2:00-6:00pm Tuesdays 2:00-6:00pm Students are asked to post their general questions on the Discussion Board under the forum labeled Virtual Office Hours. In this way, all students can view these questions
ELS 657: Public School Law 8 and learn from the answers. Questions or matters of a personal nature should be communicated directly to the instructor via email or phone and NOT on the Discussion Board. Assessment Procedures: 1. Student Evaluations. The number and kinds of assignments the student completes, the quality of work the student does, the degree to which the student participates online, and the timely submission of all assignments will determine the overall course grade. To receive full credit for individual course work, the student must address all the required elements of an assignment, it must be quality work, and it must be submitted by the established deadlines. Quality written work is defined as well written or argued, properly documented, and organized at a level expected by the instructor of a MA or EdS student. Students are expected to adhere to the university honor code. Any evidence of cheating, including plagiarism in any form and to any degree, will result in the student being reported as per the requirements set in Graduate Catalogue, 6C5-4.001 Honor Code, Academic Irregularities, and Student Grievances. 2. Assignment Values. Grading: Assignment Percent Value Research Project 30 News Summaries 15 Discussion Quest. 20 Final Exam 25 Course Participation 10 Total 100% Grades will be based on the following scale: A 100-94 B- 84-80 A- 93-91 C+ 78-77 B+ 90-88 C 76-73 B 87-85 C- 72-70 Accommodating students with special learning needs: In accordance with university policy, students with documented sensory and/or learning disabilities should inform the instructor so that their special needs may be accommodated. Attendance: Students are expected to attend each class session. Absences in excess of two may result in the final grade being lowered.
ELS 657: Public School Law 9 Honors Pledge: Each student is expected to abide by the honor system of Old Dominion University. I pledge to support the honor system of Old Dominion University. I will refrain from any form of academic dishonesty or deception, such as cheating or plagiarism. I am aware that as a member of the academic community, it is my responsibility to turn in all suspected violators of the honor system. I will report to the Honor Council hearings if summoned. By signing your work you are pledging to the honor system.