Syllabus for EDL-550

SCHOOL LAW

COURSE DESCRIPTION

A large and growing body of case law relating to public schools continues to impact schools and educational practice. Educational leaders must know how the legal process deals with controversial issues, especially those related to schooling, that play a central role in our culture. Issues of equity, gender discrimination, providing for disabled students (IDEA), Title I and Title IX regulations, racial and ethnic discrimination, sexual harassment, First Amendment rights pertaining to freedom of expression and freedom of speech in student publications, objectionable instructional materials, religion in the schools, and Fourth Amendment rights pertaining to searches and seizures of student property will be addressed. Students focus on these and other problem areas that frequently result in litigation involving school districts, principals, and other educators as named parties. Students critically assess the impact of federal and state constitutions, statutes, and regulations on the operation of schools. They explore interactions among national, state, and local regulations and examine the impact of federal law and New Jersey state cases on the rights of students, parents, and public school employees. Of special importance, students learn about procedural due process considerations and the constitutional rights of personnel and students balanced against the duties of the school (ISLLC 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; NJDOE 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).

COURSE OBJECTIVES

On successful completion of the course, you should be able to:

1. Discuss the legal framework of education and its historical development.

2. Explain the legal role of federal and state government in setting educational policy and operating the schools.

3. Differentiate the role of church and state in the overview and operations of public and private education.

4. Measure the impact of laws and court decisions on curriculum and instruction in the schools.

5. Apply the concepts of laws and court decisions to student behavior and activity relative to their individual rights in speech and expression as well as the right to privacy.

6. Employ laws and court decisions to support the appropriate positions of a school district in the areas of student discipline, due process, and protecting children.

7. Examine the employment conditions of teachers and other school personnel with specific interest in certification, contracts, tenure, termination, and personal rights.

8. Analyze the rights of teachers and other school personnel in order to ensure that any disciplinary action taken against them is fair and legal.

9. Examine the potential problem associated with issues of liability for school staff individually and the school district in general when accused of neglect or malpractice.

10. Evaluate local school district policies and procedures in their ability to address equity and diversity in education.

COURSE MATERIALS

You will need the following materials to do the work of the course. The required textbook is available from the College's textbook supplier, MBS Direct.

Required Textbook

Electronic Portfolio Registration

As a capstone experience in the Educational Leadership program, you will prepare an electronic portfolio that demonstrates your incremental achievement of the program standards. Each course in the program helps you to identify artifacts to place in your portfolio on completion of the course. To this end, you are required to purchase an electronic portfolio registration code upon your entry into the Master of Arts in Educational Leadership program. Basic directions for purchasing access to and using your electronic portfolio are posted within the Educational Leadership Students Organization (online community).

COURSE STRUCTURE

School Law is a three-credit online course, consisting of eleven (11) modules. Modules include topics, learning objectives, a study assignment, an online discussion, and a writing assignment. You are also required to complete two court case reports and to submit a final paper or project. Module titles and topics are listed below.

1. Module 1:  Legal System and the Schools

2. Module 2:  Education Governance—Federal and State

3. Module 3:  Public and Private Schools

4. Module 4:  Instructional Programs and the Law

5. Module 5:  Students and the Law: Speech, Expression, and Privacy

6. Module 6:  Students and the Law: Common Law, Due Process, and Statutory Protection

7. Module 7:  Teachers and the Law: Professional Rights of Teachers

8. Module 8:  Teachers and the Law: Due Process and Discrimination

9. Module 9:  Individuals with Disabilities

10. Module 10:  Staff and School District Liability

11. Module 11:  School Desegregation and Diversity

ASSESSMENT METHODS

For your formal work in the course, you are required to participate in online discussion forums, complete writing assignments, and complete a final paper or project. See below for more details.

Consult the course Calendar for assignment due dates.

Discussion Forums

Each module in the course has an online class discussion forum.

Online discussions provide an opportunity for you to interact with your classmates. During this aspect of the course, you respond to prompts that assist you in developing your ideas, you share those ideas with your classmates, and you comment on their posts. Discussion forum interactions promote development of a community of learners, critical thinking, and exploratory learning.

Please participate in online discussions as you would in constructive face-to-face discussions. You are expected to post well-reasoned and thoughtful reflections for each item, making reference, as appropriate, to your readings. You are also expected to reply to your classmates' posts in a respectful, professional, and courteous manner. You may, of course, post questions asking for clarification or further elucidation on a topic.

Click link for an evaluation rubric.

Writing Assignments

Each module in the course concludes with a short writing assignment of about 500 words. The writing assignments require you to write well-reasoned and thoughtful papers on questions derived from the module objectives, making reference, as appropriate, to the readings and other sources of information. You are required to follow current APA style guidelines in formatting your work and for all references.

Click link for an evaluation rubric.

Court Case Reports

During the semester, you will write two analyses of important court cases. One report should be based on a case covered in Modules 1–5; the second report should be based on a case covered in Modules 6–11.

In these reports you are expected to cite the case correctly and completely, identify the topic and issue(s) addressed, present the facts of the case, summarize the findings (of both the trial court and appellate court, if any), explain the reasoning behind the court's decision, and assess the implication of the decision for administrators. In preparing your report, please use the template provided (click link for a rich-text version, then File > Download) and the course text as the source for the court cases. Included here as well is a list of cases and page locations in the text from which you can select the two cases.

Click link for an evaluation rubric.

Final Paper or Project

The final paper or project constitutes another principal artifact for your portfolio and counts 25% toward your grade. Choose one of the following options:

1. Paper option—The paper option takes the form of a traditional research paper on the subject of school law. In such a paper, you should follow accepted research approaches, citations (APA), and discussion processes. The product would be a well-organized report of 10–12 pages (2500–3000 words).

Click link for an evaluation rubric.

2. Project option—An alternative to the research paper would be a practical project, for example, the development of guidelines for student publications. Involved in this process would be an overall description of your role, an example of the work you developed or wrote, and other artifacts of your participation.

Click link for an evaluation rubric.

Please note that by Module 7 you should have come to an agreement with your mentor about the topic of your paper or the subject of the project. You are required to follow current APA style guidelines in formatting and organizing your paper and for any citations.

Portfolio Artifacts and Reflective Narrative

The principal artifacts for this course are the two court case reports and your final paper or project. Accompanying the artifact is a reflective narrative that describes the process and how the artifact meets specific standards and prepares you for school leadership.

Upload your artifact to your electronic portfolio, and be certain to indicate its alignment to the applicable ISLLC standards.

GRADING AND EVALUATION

Your grade in the course will be determined as follows:

1. Discussion forums (11)—22%
2. Written assignments (11)—33%
3. Court case reports (2)—20%
4. Final paper or project—25%

All activities will receive a numerical grade of 0–100. You will receive a score of 0 for any work not submitted. Your final grade in the course will be a letter grade. Letter grade equivalents for numerical grades are as follows:

To receive credit for the course, you must earn a letter grade of C or higher on the weighted average of all assigned course work (e.g., assignments, discussion postings, projects, etc.). Graduate students must maintain a B average overall to remain in good academic standing.

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

First Steps to Success

To succeed in this course, take the following first steps:

1. Read carefully the entire Syllabus, making sure that all aspects of the course are clear to you and that you have all the materials required for the course.

2. Take the time to read the entire Online Student Handbook. The Handbook answers many questions about how to proceed through the course and how to get the most from your educational experience at Thomas Edison State College.

3. Familiarize yourself with the learning management systems environment—how to navigate it and what the various course areas contain. If you know what to expect as you navigate the course, you can better pace yourself and complete the work on time.

4. If you are not familiar with Web-based learning be sure to review the processes for posting responses online and submitting activities before class begins.

Study Tips

Consider the following study tips for success:

1. To stay on track throughout the course, begin each week by consulting the course Calendar. The Calendar provides an overview of the course and indicates due dates for submitting assignments and posting discussions.

2. Check Announcements regularly for new course information.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Students at Thomas Edison State College are expected to exhibit the highest level of academic citizenship. In particular, students are expected to read and follow all policies, procedures, and program information guidelines contained in publications; pursue their learning goals with honesty and integrity; demonstrate that they are progressing satisfactorily and in a timely fashion by meeting course deadlines and following outlined procedures; observe a code of mutual respect in dealing with mentors, staff, and other students; behave in a manner consistent with the standards and codes of the profession in which they are practicing; keep official records updated regarding changes in name, address, telephone number, or e-mail address; and meet financial obligations in a timely manner. Students not practicing good academic citizenship may be subject to disciplinary action including suspension, dismissal, or financial holds on records.

Academic Dishonesty

Thomas Edison State College expects all of its students to approach their education with academic integrity—the pursuit of scholarly activity free from fraud and deception. All mentors and administrative staff members at the College insist on strict standards of academic honesty in all courses. Academic dishonesty undermines this objective. Academic dishonesty takes the following forms:

1. Cheating
2. Plagiarizing (including copying and pasting from the Internet without using quotation marks and without acknowledging sources)
3. Fabricating information or citations
4. Facilitating acts of dishonesty by others
5. Unauthorized access to examinations or the use of unauthorized materials during exam administration
6. Submitting the work of another person or work previously used without informing the mentor
7. Tampering with the academic work of other students

Academic dishonesty will result in disciplinary action and possible dismissal from the College. Students who submit papers that are found to be plagiarized will receive an F on the plagiarized activity, may receive a grade of F for the course, and may face dismissal from the College.

A student who is charged with academic dishonesty will be given oral or written notice of the charge. If a mentor or College official believes the infraction is serious enough to warrant referral of the case to the academic dean, or if the mentor awards a final grade of F in the course because of the infraction, the student and the mentor will be afforded formal due process.

If a student is found cheating or using unauthorized materials on an examination, he or she will automatically receive a grade of F on that examination. Students who believe they have been falsely accused of academic dishonesty should seek redress through informal discussions with the mentor, through the office of the dean, or through an executive officer of Thomas Edison State College.

Plagiarism

Using someone else's work as your own is plagiarism. Although it may seem like simple dishonesty, plagiarism is against the law. Thomas Edison State College takes a strong stance against plagiarism, and students found to be plagiarizing will be severely penalized. If you copy phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or whole documents word-for-word—or if you paraphrase by changing a word here and there—without identifying the author, then you are plagiarizing. Please keep in mind that this type of identification applies to Internet sources as well as to print-based sources. Copying and pasting from the Internet, without using quotation marks and without acknowledging sources, constitutes plagiarism. (For information about how to cite Internet sources, see Online Student Handbook > Academic Standards > "Citing Sources.")

Accidentally copying the words and ideas of another writer does not excuse the charge of plagiarism. It is easy to jot down notes and ideas from many sources and then write your own paper without knowing which words are your own and which are someone else's. It is more difficult to keep track of each and every source. However, the conscientious writer who wishes to avoid plagiarizing never fails to keep careful track of sources.

Always be aware that if you write without acknowledging the sources of your ideas, you run the risk of being charged with plagiarism.

Clearly, plagiarism, no matter the degree of intent to deceive, defeats the purpose of education. If you plagiarize deliberately, you are not educating yourself, and you are wasting your time on courses meant to improve your skills. If you plagiarize through carelessness, you are deceiving yourself.