Every year teachers find themselves involved in conflicts dealing with violations of students' First Amendment rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion. Students and parents file lawsuits against school districts because they feel teachers and administrators have violated their First Amendment rights. As a result, many teacher preparation programs require pre-service teachers to learn about educational law and the rights students have at school. Yet, little research exists about how well pre-service teachers are prepared to deal with First Amendment issues in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to investigate how well pre-service teachers are prepared to deal with First Amendment issues in the classroom. This study reviews the literature regarding the need for educational law in teacher preparation, historical cases providing guidance to teachers regarding students' First Amendment rights in the classroom, and recent court cases involving conflicts between students and schools regarding students' First Amendment rights. Using a mixed-methods approach, the researcher investigated pre-service teachers at a large urban college of education using a survey developed by the researcher and interviews with a sample of the pre-service teachers. One hundred and ten secondary pre-service teachers submitted surveys, and 10 pre-service teachers participated in interviews. Using analyses of variance, the researcher found that there was not a statistically significant difference between the scores or confidence levels of pre-service teachers based on their subject area or their academic level (undergraduate/graduate). The knowledge that pre-service teachers have acquired is derived from experiences while in school, teaching, or in their coursework. In addition, when pre-service teachers have a personal experience with a First Amendment issue, they are more confident in their knowledge and more likely to take action in dealing with the issue. Pre-service teachers use several criteria when making decisions regarding First Amendment issues. These criteria include school policy, sense of right or wrong, offensiveness, and personal apprehension. Information about pre-service teachers' knowledge and how they make decisions regarding First Amendment issues provides teacher educators with valuable information for building a curriculum that prepares pre-service teachers to deal with First Amendment issues in the classroom.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on December 12, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of the study was to investigate current liability insurance practices for professional school corporation personnel in Indiana. Fifty rural and fifty urban school corporations were surveyed with regard to: (1) number and character of suits against school corporations or professional. school corporation personnel, (2) amount of current liability insurance protection carried by school corporations, (3) degree of legal representation of school corporations and school corporation personnel, and (4) opinions of respondents about educational malpractice. An instrument developed to gather data elicited responses from 52 percent of urban and 6-8 percent of rural school corporations in the sample.An analysis of data was completed to test two null hypotheses with regard to: (1) need for liability insurance and (2) employment of legal counsel. Additional data were compiled arid reported descriptively in order to draw conclusions regarding the current status of personal liability insurance protection within Indiana school corporations. Findings of the study included:Urban school corporations had a significantly greater need for liability insurance as measured by number of suits involving school corporations or professional school corporation personnel. Respondents from 57.7 percent of urban school corporations reported involvement in at least thirty liability actions between 1972 and 1977. Respondents from 26.5 percent of rural school corporations reported involvement in ten liability actions between 1972 and 1977.Negligence and personal injury were grounds most often reported for school related liability actions, especially in actions involving urban school corporations.Judgments rendered against rural school corporations were settled for an average of $9,975. Judgments against urban school corporations were settled for an average of $14,506.Written teacher dismissal policies had been established by 58.8 percent of rural and 88.5 percent of urban school corporations.Results of a Chi-Square test indicated that no significant difference existed between rural and urban school corporations in the employment of legal counsel. Urban school corporations pay more than twice the yearly fee for legal services dealing with personal liability than rural school corporations. Legal counsel provided by school corporations would not represent employees from almost 40 percent of Indiana school corporations in liability litigation.Urban school corporations provide for more types of liability, greater amounts of coverage, and larger deductibles for liability insurance than rural counterparts. Deductibles in excess of $1,000 were obtained on 16.9 percent of all coverages with deductibles purchased by rural school corporations and on 52.6 percent of all coverages with deductibles purchased by urban school corporations. Four rural and nine urban school corporations reported deductibles of $10,000.Amount of annual premium paid varies with type and amount of coverage, amount of deductible, school corporation enrollment, number of school officials and number of school employees covered. Rural school corporations were providing liability insurance protection at an average premium rate of $1.20 per student enrolled. Urban school corporations were providing liability insurance protection at an average premium rate of $1.17 per student enrolled.School officials and employees from rural school corporations which have not been involved in liability actions tend to be less wary of implications of educational malpractice than school officials and employees from urban school corporations or from rural school corporations which have been involved in liability actions.

The purpose of the study was to ascertain and report current attitudes of public school superintendents in Indiana regarding the problems associated with home schooling, and, to recommend solutions to the problems identified. To facilitate reporting the data the study was written in five chapters. Chapter I included an overview that delineated the purpose for the study and organization for subsequent chapters.Chapter II presented a review of related research and literature directly pertaining to the study. Constitutional issues related to the First, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution were reviewed. The issue of individual rights versus the police power of the state was found to be a balancing act which required careful scrutinization in the courts to protect the rights of individuals and the rights of the state to an educated citizenry.Chapter III contained an explanation of the methods and procedures employed to derive the necessary data. The chapter contained a description of the population, sources of data, methods used in the development of the questionnaire, procedures for collection of the data, and, methods for analysis of the data.Chapter IV presented an analysis of the data collected. The superintendents indicated a 64.83 percent increase from 1982-1985 in home schoolers and future growth was probable. The respondents indicated all home schoolers should be required to register with the Department of Education with hours of attendance, curriculum, and proof of learning monitored by the state.Chapter V provided a summary of the study, findings, conclusions, and recommendations. The findings support the following conclusions:1. Public school superintendents need to recognize the legitimacy of home schools as a legal alternative to public schooling.2. Courts will not support public school superintendents in Indiana when prosecuting home schooling parents for violation of compulsory attendance statutes unless definitive proof exists that no structured education has been provided.3. Compulsory attendance statutes as stated provide for a wide variation of interpretations and may lead to unnecessary litigation.4. Requiring parents to prove teaching competency and establishing minimum state guidelines for home schools would assist in meeting the legislative intent of the compulsory attendance statute.

The purpose of the study was to identify problems associated with unaccredited private schools and home instruction programs and possible solutions to problems as perceived by State Education Officials in the Great Lakes States. The States were Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.Eleven State Education Officials having responsibility for unaccredited private schools and home instruction programs were interviewed by telephone to collect the data. An interview form was designed to elicit non-directed responses to major problems confronting the states, methods of handling problems, possible solutions to problems, and practices in the next five years.Major problems existed with state regulations regarding equivalent instruction, teacher qualifications, courses of study, and definition of a school. Lack of criteria for interpreting the terms and assuring compliance with requirements were reported. Local school superintendents were confronted with similar problems regarding state regulations. State Education Officials identified problems with lack of certified or qualified teachers in fundamentalist schools and home instruction programs, difficulty obtaining data from pastors and parents, and extent of state authority to regulate private schools. Also, student loss of services, materials, and diplomas was a concern.Solutions to the problems as perceived by State Education Officials included changes in statutes from compulsory school attendance to compulsory education with minimum standards and achievement testing, clarification of terms in state statutes, and separate state regulations for private education. Other recommendations were a separate accrediting agency, a national co-op agency, and communication and cooperation between public and private educators.State Education Officials projected no substantial changes in regulations or practices in the next five years. However, expanding interest and increasing enrollments in private schools were expected.

Thèse (M.A.)--Université de Moncton, 1997. / Comprend des réf. bibliogr.

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This thesis traces and analyses the dynamics of policy formulation and implementation in South Africa over the past two decades and attempts to identify the possibilities for democratic processes to change an unequal and multi-tiered education system. The study suggests that what has been missing from most analysis of transitional policymaking in South Africa is a careful examination of social class, and particularly how and why social movements and social actors on the ground, who were initially central to policy formulation and critique, became largely marginalised once policies were institutionalised. The trajectory of the latter trend, related to the class nature of the post–apartheid state and the political economy of the transition from apartheid to democracy is explored in detail in several of the chapters that comprise this thesis. The thesis builds an argument around class, political economy and community participation situated in critical education policy analysis as the theoretical approach. Critical policy analysis views the terrain of the state and therefore policy formulation processes as spaces of contestation and negotiation. It also allows insight beyond the symptoms of educational inequality and dysfunctionality and shows connectivity between education policy and social relations of power. The major characteristics of an ‘evaluative’ case study which combines description, explanation and judgement is employed in the study of the Education Rights Project. Such a methodological approach allows for reflection on the generation of extant post-apartheid education policy and its implementation. Various chapters provide an account of how communities can use research to document violations of education rights and claim their rights which in turn also provide insights into the complex nature of democratisation of education and formal policy making arrangements. The thesis also demonstrates how experiences of transformational education and activism actively seek to disrupt the dichotomies between formal and informal educational arrangements, the public and private spheres, and cultural and political spaces. The role of local education activism in South Africa has been relatively under researched and largely ignored by mainstream education policy theorists; this thesis attempts to rectify this gap in South African education scholarship. One of the questions explored is whether the elision of social class analysis and meaningful community participation in education policy deliberations has contributed to the failure in addressing and overcoming the profound inequalities and social cleavages that characterise the South African education system. Relatedly, this thesis examines the critical role of community, civil society and social movements in policy critique and development. The study also focuses on issues impacting on the implementation of the right to basic education through formal policy and legislative frameworks and whether these fall short of the needs of people living in South Africa as well as the constitutional imprimatur around the fulfilment of their potential. The thesis suggests that educational reforms should be accompanied by a wider range of redistributive strategies, democratic participation, political will and clear choices about the social ends policy interventions seek to achieve. These issues are prompted by other framing questions such as does the right to education impact on the development of democracy and social transformation in South Africa, what are the obstacles and impediments to the fulfilment of educational rights and what is the relationship between the state and civil society in educational policymaking and the meaning of this relationship for the establishment of democracy in education? / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.