COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND POLICY STUDIES
EDA 7233 LEGAL DIMENSIONS OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION
FALL 2006
3 SEMESTER HOURS
Dr. Darlene Y. Bruner, Associate Professor
Office:
Telephone:
Office Fax:
E-Mail:
Office Hours:
EDU 156
(813) 974- 6039 (office)
(863) 984-2853 (home)
(813) 974-5423
dbruner@tempest.coedu.usf.edu or dbruner@tampabay.rr.com
One hour prior to or after class
Other times by appointment
Instructor Background: Dr. Bruner has 31 years of experience as elementary and middle school
teacher, school administrator, and district level supervisor. She was principal of three elementary
schools ranging in size from 300 to 1000 students and served the district as the Supervisor of
Language Arts, K-8. During her K-12 career, Dr. Bruner was president of the Polk Education
Association, chief negotiator for the teachers’ contract, member of Board of Directors of
FTP/NEA, and chairperson of the elementary principals in Polk County. Upon her retirement
from public schools, she began teaching at university level in the masters, specialist, and
doctorate Educational Leadership program. See Blackboard for more information.
Staying in Touch If you have questions, if something isn’t clear or doesn’t make sense or if you
have ideas or suggestions you’d like to discuss, I’d like to hear from you. For a quick response,
my e-mail addresses are at the top of the syllabus, and I encourage you to use it. I generally
respond to e-mail messages within 24 hours (there may be a longer delay on weekends or if I’m
out of town). If you’d like to meet, contact me before or after class, or via phone or e-mail, and
we’ll set up a mutually convenient time.
CATALOG COURSE DESCRIPTION
Historical perspective in law and education with in depth reviews of case law showing evolution
of courts as policy makers.
COMMENTS FROM DR. BRUNER:
Legal Dimensions of School Administration is a second course in school law designed to provide
additional breadth and depth to areas of knowledge provided by prerequisite knowledge gained
through EDA 6232- School Law, or its equivalent. The course is designed for advanced graduate
students in Ed. S., Ed.D. or Ph.D. programs.
The focus of this course centers on individual and small group research and writing on federal
and state constitutional and statutory issues affecting educational practice with an emphasis on
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major issues (e.g., “choice”) and implications for the school administrator. The student in this
course will determine an appropriate focus for research and writing in concert with the instructor.
Some writing time will occur during class, with support of the instructor and peer review. You
will need to bring a laptop with you to all classes. If you do not have a laptop, please see me and
we will work through TSR for you to check out one each class period (they do not check out
laptops for more than a day). If you do use a TSR laptop, you will need to have a flash drive or
disk to save your work.
USF COLLEGE OF EDUCATION CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
The College of Education CAREs
The College of Education is dedicated to the ideals of Collaboration, Academic Excellence,
Research, and Ethics/Diversity. These are key tenets in the Conceptual Framework of the College
of Education. Competence in these ideals will provide candidates in educator preparation
programs with skills, knowledge, and dispositions to be successful in the schools of today and
tomorrow. For more information on the Conceptual Framework, visit:
www.coedu.usf.edu/main/qualityassurance/ncate_visit_info_materials.html
EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK
Course content and instructional activities are designed to help students demonstrate their
competency in meeting standards for school leaders. The course emphasizes relevant sections of
the Florida-adopted Principal Leadership Standards, the Educational Leadership Constituent
Council (ELCC) Standards approved by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher
Education (NCATE) and the Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Program
Domains. Since these standards guide the practice of school administration, course assignments
and class activities promote their application to school leadership and management.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOK(S)
Florida School Laws, 2005 edition. Albany, NY: LexisNexis
Permuth, S. & Mawdsley, R. D. (2006). Research methods for studying legal issues in education.
Dayton, OH: Education Law Association.
RECOMMENDED TEXTBOOK(S)
Alexander, K. & Alexander, D. American public school law (5th or 6th edition). Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological
Association. (5th Ed.). Washington, D. C.
Camp, W.E., Connelly, M.J., Lane, K.E., Mead, J.F. (2001). The Principal’s Legal
Handbook (2nd ed.). Dayton, OH: Education Law Association. (Available at:
http://www.educationlaw.org/publications/handbook.htm)
Essex, Nathan L. (2005). School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational
Leaders (3/e). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
SUPPLEMENTARY READINGS
Students will read court cases, newspaper and Internet stories, and other items of interest as they
arise. These readings will be available at a variety of websites. Particularly, students should read
Randy Cohen's weekly column The Ethicist, which appears on Sunday in the New York Times
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Magazine, available at www.nytimes.com. Students should also become familiar with a legal
search engine, such as FindLaw (www.findlaw.com), and the organization and research options
available on the Web through a well-recognized law library, such as the Cornell Law Library.
SPECIFIC COURSE OBJECTIVES
Evidence of student performance will be that the student can:
1. Access cases using traditional and electronic methods and to analyze cases to determine their
parts, decisions, reasons and bearings upon education.
2. Prepare case briefs.
3. Apply knowledge of federal and state constitutional, statutory, and regulatory provisions and
judicial decisions governing education.
4. Apply knowledge of common law and contractual requirements and procedures in an
educational setting, including responding to electronic and printed news media (i.e., tort liability,
contract administration, formal hearings).
5. Define and relate the general characteristics of internal and external political systems
(including boards of education) as they apply to school settings and develop appropriate
procedures and relationships for working with local governing boards.
6. Describe the processes by which federal, state, district, and school-site policies are formulated,
enacted, implemented, and evaluated, and develops strategies for influencing policy development.
7. Analyze case scenarios and formulate possible solutions with respect to legal, policy, and
social contexts taking into consideration moral and ethical implications of policy options and
political strategies, including general and special education, without regard to culture, religion,
gender, and sexual orientation of individual students.
8. Articulate legal provisions, regulations, and program standards regarding assessment of
individuals as well as comply with federal, state, and local monitoring and evaluation
requirements.
9. Manifest a professional code of ethics and values with an awareness of personal biases and
differences that may affect one's teaching or administering programs.
10. Synthesize their readings and research on school law through the development and production
of a research paper on an educational law topic to be shared and/or published.
METHODS OF INSTRUCTION
The class will be conducted as a graduate seminar. The development of the course is based on the
notion that learning is something people do and that knowledge is gained by doing, not something
passively received. As such, students are expected to be able and willing to share information and
ideas. Opportunities will be provided for students to work collaboratively and independently,
through varied venues of information, dissemination, and communication.
Graduate level instructional strategies are typified by whole and small group interactions.
Students are expected to come to class having read assignments and reflected upon them.
Discussion will focus on those reflections and the questions they raise. The format of the course
is threefold: teacher centered (lectures, guest speakers); student centered (small and large group
discussion, oral presentations), and media centered (PowerPoint, Internet lessons and videotapes).
GROUND RULES FOR COURSE DISCUSSIONS (Weber, 1990)
1) Acknowledge that racism, classism, sexism, and other institutional forms of oppression exist.
2) Acknowledge that one mechanism of institutional racism, classism, sexism and the like is that
we are all systematically misinformed about our own group and about members of other
groups.
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3) Agree not to blame others or ourselves for the misinformation we have learned, but to accept
responsibility for not repeating it after we have learned otherwise.
4) Agree not to “blame victims” for the conditions of their lives.
5) Assume that people – both the groups we study and the members of the class – always do the
best they can.
6) Actively pursue information about our own group and those of others.
7) Share information about our groups with other members of the class, and never demean,
devalue, on in any way “put down” people for their experiences.
8) Agree to combat actively the myths and stereotypes about our own groups and other groups
so that we can break down the walls that prohibit group cooperation gain.
9) Create a safe atmosphere for open discussion. If members of the class wish to make
comments that they do not want repeated outside the classroom, they can preface their
remarks with a request that the class agrees not to repeat the remarks.
10) Others as agreed upon by individual classes.
TECHNOLOGY STATEMENT
Education leaders use and promote technology and information systems to monitor, manage, and
enrich the learning environment while also increasing productivity and assessment systems. To
this end, Educational Leadership students will incorporate technology as a tool to facilitate their
study of course content and to facilitate completion of course requirements. Applications may
include the use of Blackboard Learning System; word-processing; communication; presentations;
along with accessing library, government, and education related resources over the web.
DIVERSITY STATEMENT
The required coursework in the Educational Leadership Program focuses on preparing leaders
who ethically promote democratic principles, social justice, equity and diversity. Through the use
of readings, class discussions, case studies, problem-based learning, written assignments and field
experiences students will have opportunities to develop their own understanding and skills in
becoming more effective leaders in diverse learning organizations.
ATTENDANCE POLICY
Graduate students are expected to attend all classes and participate in class functions. When a
need arises to miss a class, the problem should be discussed with the instructor. After missing a
second class, the student must schedule an appointment with the professor to discuss the student’s
status in the course. Absenteeism and/or infrequent or minimal class participation will result in
reduction of course grade.
CANCELLED CLASSES
If a class session must be canceled due to bad weather or other unforeseen circumstances, the
instructor will make every possible effort to contact students in sufficient time to avoid an
unnecessary trip to class. Announcements will be posted on Blackboard and email sent to
students via university email.
COMMUNICATIONS
All official class communications will be through University of South Florida email. It is the
students’ responsibility to check his/her university email account on a regular basis.
Announcements will also be posted on Blackboard.
LATE ASSIGNMENTS
Late assignments will be accepted only in cases of extreme emergencies—and upon notification
of reasons for lateness provided by electronic message to the instructor. The decision to accept
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late work is solely at the discretion of the instructor. Assignments that are completed after the due
date will be assessed a penalty in grade.
DEVICES AND DISRUPTIONS
Please silence cell phones, beepers, and similar gadgets during class meetings. If an emergency
signal is given, please quietly step outside of the classroom to address the matter.
FOOD AND PHYSICAL ENVIRONS
The class meetings are quite long. Although there will be periodic breaks, there may be times
when you need to use the restroom, eat a snack in-class, or stretch a bit. These are understandable
needs. I only ask that you move quietly, keep the room clean, and avoid disrupting others. In
addition, please feel free to provide suggestions on how to make the physical environment and
experience more comfortable.
SPECIAL NEEDS STATEMENT
Students with disabilities are encouraged to consult me as soon as possible. If accommodations
are needed, a letter from the Office of Student Disability Services (SVS 1133, Tampa Campus)
will be required. Please inform me if there is a need for alternate format for documents or a notetaker as I wish to fully include all students in the course. Additional information about these
matters can be obtained from http://www.sa.usf.edu/sds/ or by calling the Tampa office, call
(813) 974-4309, TDD (813) 974-5651, or fax to (813) 974-7337.
SYLLABI
Additions or substitutions to this syllabus may occur during the semester to make adjustments to
student or faculty needs. Students will be notified of changes in the syllabus in class and on
Blackboard.
COURSE EVALUATION
As practicing educators, students are expected to participate fully in course discussions and
exercises and will be evaluated, in part, on the degree and thoughtfulness of their participation.
Evaluation is based on the attainment of the course outcomes as demonstrated by the completion
of all course requirements. These course outcomes cannot be successfully attained without active
and thoughtful participation on your part. The course grade will be based upon the following
components:
Grading Scale
A = 182 – 200 points
B = 162 – 181 points
C = 150 – 161 points
F = 149 or less points
Course Assignments
For a full explanation of course assignments, see Blackboard Course Assignments section.
Assignments are to be delivered to the instructor through an electronic copy submitted through
Blackboard’s ASSIGNMENT area by 9:00 PM on the due date.
Classroom as Research Site
As we work together to build an understanding of politics in equity and social justice in
educational leadership and policy, I, as an instructor and researcher, will be collecting data that
informs my own work. Data gathered during this course may be used in future work by the
instructor. Care will be taken to ensure the anonymity of all class members. However, if you
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would prefer that your comments and participation not be used as data, please inform me in
writing before the conclusion of last class of this course.
GENERAL EXPECTATIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK
Academic honesty is expected. Using the words, ideas, or conclusions of another person without
giving proper credit and citation is a form of intellectual dishonesty known as PLAGIARISM.
This always has been, and still is, unacceptable and dishonest. You are in an elite group having
arrived at this place in your educational career through diligent work and your ability to
persevere. Do not jeopardize your place in this program by succumbing to the dishonest
production of required work--it will be dealt with swiftly. Submitting the same paper for more
than one course is considered a breach of academic integrity unless prior approval is obtained
from both instructors. If more than one student has identical papers, or part(s) of the assignment is
identical, on an individual assignment, it will be considered intellectual dishonesty and deal with
accordingly.
All acts of dishonesty in any work constitute academic misconduct. Please note I read all
assignments thoroughly. Proper APA citations should be used if the material is copied directly
from the readings or if you are borrowing ideas from a reading. Quotations are followed by the
author, year, and page number in parenthesis of the source of the quote (Smith, 1998, p. 15). If
you paraphrase something, you put just the author and year after the paraphrased material
(Petrovic, 1998). Paraphrasing means to restate, therefore, the wording must be completely
changed. Altering a few words or phrases is not sufficient...the entire passage must be restated in
YOUR OWN words (Tomberlin, J., 1995). You will be in violation of The University of South
Florida policies if you fail to follow standard referencing rules. Submitting work done for another
class, submitting someone else’s work as your own, copying and pasting from the internet, are all
violations. (Internet sources may be used, but you must follow standard referencing rules.) The
student who submitted a plagiarized assignment or assignment from another class shall receive an
"F" with a numerical value of zero on the item submitted, and the "F" shall be used to determine
the final course grade. It is the option of the instructor to fail the student in the course and
students in this course will receive an “F” for their final grade. The student(s) shall also be
referred to the Department Chair for any further action he/she might wish to take.
Rewriting such assignments is not an option. Please see the Graduate School statement on
plagiarism for more information.
All written work is to be prepared according to the guidelines of the Publication Manual of the
American Psychological Association (5th Edition), 2001. All written assignments will be
double-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font. Papers should be double-spaced, wellorganized, well-developed conceptually, and as error-free as possible to receive maximum credit.
All work should be saved as an .rtf document before submitting if you use a Mac computer
program, otherwise I cannot open the document from my PC computer program.
Information on APA Style
http://www.apastyle.org/ APA Style.Org
Students are strongly encouraged to purchase The 5th edition of APA's Publication Manual.
Another source for APA information is:
http://www.wooster.edu/psychology/apa-crib.html#Examples APA Research Style Crib Sheet
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*CLASS SCHEDULES
*Subject to change
Date
8/30/06
9/05/06
9/19/06
9/26/06
10/03/06
10/24/06
10/31/06
11/14/06
11/21/06
11/28/06
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EDA 7233
Introductions, course
expectations
Library Instruction and
Research Methods book
Continue with Methods Book;
Issues Analysis due
Online Activity and Research
Peer Review; Diversity
assignment due
Special Education Law
Symposium
Peer Review
Presentation of Research
Online Activity and Research
Presentation of Research
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APPENDIX A
Fall 2006
The USF library has at least 16 electronic databases containing law information. Become familiar
with each of them.
In addition, please peruse these links as you do your research. Let me know if one is not working
so I can attempt to repair it or find an alternative. If you find a good website, please share with me
so I can put it online for your classmates. Thanks!
Public Laws: http://thomas.loc.gov
Bills: http://thomas.loc.gov
Congressional Record: http://thomas.loc.gov
Code of Federal Regulations: http://law.house.gov/80/cfr.htm
Federal Register: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aaces002.html
Lawguru: http://www.lawguru.com/index.php
United States Founding Documents:
http://rs6.loc.gov/ammem/help/constRedir.html
United States Supreme Court:
Supreme Court: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/
Research Guide for Supreme Court http://www.law.duke.edu/lib/researchguides/ussup.html
United States Supreme Court Decisions:
1990-present: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/supct.table.html
1937-1975: http://www.law.vill.edu/Fed-Ct/fedcourt.html
Florida Courts http://www.law.emory.edu/caselaw/#Florida
Florida Courts http://www.flcourts.org/
Florida DOE http://www.fldoe.org/index_pages/laws.asp
Education Law Center: http://www.elc-pa.org/
Education Law Web Links: http://www.ualr.edu/~coedept/curlinks/schlaw.html
Education Law: http://www.library.vcu.edu/guides/edlaw.html
Law Resources:
http://www.fndfl.org/lawlnk.html
http://www.naples.net/~nfn05991/lawlnk.html
Research Guides - Education Law:
http://www.law.seattleu.edu/library/research/startingpoints/education
http://www.law.seattleu.edu/library/research/startingpoints/primary
http://www.law.duke.edu/lib/researchguides/intresearch.html
http://www.law.duke.edu/lib/researchguides/nonlaw.html
http://www.ilrg.com/ Internet Legal Research Group
http://www.thelawengine.com/index.htm The Law Engine
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http://dir.yahoo.com/government/law/journals/ Law Journals (Yahoo)
School Law Resources: http://www.sru.edu/depts/library/imc/law.htm
LexNotes online resource for legal research professionals. It provides categorized links to
research sources, bibliographies, pathfinders, articles, reviews, papers, and legal news
http://www.lexnotes.com/index.shtml
FindLaw http://www.findlaw.com
LexisNexus http://www.lexisnexis.com
The Legal Information Institute (LII) http://www.law.cornell.edu
Good Writing Tips
http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/%7Epam/papers/goodwriting.html
http://www.wisc.edu/writetest/Handbook/index.html
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/ResearchW/notes.html
http://www.aresearchguide.com/1steps.html
http://www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/termpapr.html
APA Sites:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ Purdue University
http://www.psywww.com/resource/APA%20Research%20Style%20Crib%20Sheet.htm
http://www.wooster.edu/psychology/apa-crib.html
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APPENDIX B
Although not an exhaustive or comprehensive list, the following journals are examples of
sources for additional readings:
American Educational Research Journal
American Journal of Education
Education and Law Journal
Education Week
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis
Educational Leadership
Educational Research Quarterly
Education and Urban Society
Harvard Educational Review
Journal of Curriculum and Supervision
Journal of Law & Education
Journal of Research and Development in Education
Journal of Staff Development
Planning and Changing
People and Education
Phi Delta Kappan
Review of Educational Research
Review of Research in Education
The course is informed by learned societies and professional organizations and based on
knowledge gleaned from research and practice. Among these learned societies and
professional organizations are:
American Association of School Administrators (AASA)
American Educational Research Association (AERA)
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)
Education Law Association (ELA)
National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP)
National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP)
National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE)
National Middle School Association (NMSA)
National School Boards Association (NSBA)
Leaders: “ [Are] persons who, by word and/or personal example, markedly influence the
behaviors, thoughts, and/or feelings of a significant number of their fellow human beings. The
leaders’ voices affected their worlds, and, ultimately, our world.”
-Gardner, 1993
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