The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act is India’s most recent national-level policy in pursuit of universalizing elementary education. While some states have been successful at increasing the number of students who attend school, reducing dropout rates, and reducing the rates of out of school children, others are still struggling to make progress. The states that are successful are surprising in some instances because they are not particularly wealthy, they have large rural populations, and some face larger socio-political issues. This thesis finds that the states succeeding in meeting RTE goals are not always the states that are the best at implementing RTE norms. States are often successful when they violate the RTE norms in order to suit their communities’ educational needs. States are also successful when they introduce child welfare policies outside of education in order to address external issues that prevent children from attending school.

No description available.

No description available.

<p> This study examines how the state and federal courts have made decisions regarding public school students&rsquo; Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights in 105 cases during the years 2004 to 2015 when school resource officers were involved. Since the Supreme Court&rsquo;s decision in <i>New Jersey v. T.L.O.</i> (1985), the requirement of only reasonable suspicion, as opposed to the more stringent Constitutional standard of probable cause in school searches and seizures, has resulted in conflicting decisions how school resource officers should work with school officials. This research found that both state and federal courts tend to decide for the school rather than the student in these types of incidents except in cases of egregious violations of students&rsquo; rights and dignity. The number and the nature of court cases suggest the need for improved training and communication among students, school personnel and school resource officers.</p>

<p> In this thesis, I examine how postmodern notions of space and place may shed light on legal controversies regarding cyberbullying behavior in lower courts. Using the theories of Michel de Certeau, I argue that rhetorically intervening in these controversies by way of thinking through space and place not as geographic locations, but rather as relational and communicative concepts, may clarify some of the issues school administrators and courts run into when trying to regulate cyberbullying speech. I propose a set of standards for regulating some forms of cyberbullying speech that should not encroach upon students&rsquo; First Amendment rights to political speech.</p>

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.