In 1990, a case came before the Ontario Human Rights Commission involving the collision of a religious rights policy enshrined in the Ontario Human Rights Code 1981 and a Peel Board of Education disciplinary policy prohibiting weapons including the kirpan, a dagger-like article of religious faith worn by baptized Sikhs. Harbhajan Singh Pandori claimed infringement of his religious rights as a Sikh under the Code. In a joint complaint, the Ontario Human Rights Commission alleged the Code had been violated in a Peel Board policy restricting the religious rights of Sikhs by prohibiting the kirpan. Attempts to mediate between complainant Sikhs and the Peel Board failed. The dispute went before an Ontario Human Rights Commission tribunal adjudicated by Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut who ruled that the kirpan was a religious symbol and could be worn to school subject to restrictions. The Pandori kirpan case illustrates the complexity of resolving issues of cultural and religious conflict in public institutions undergoing demographic change. Significant to the kirpan case were Canadian immigration policy changes which eliminated race and ethnicity from admission criteria. As a result, the Region of Peel witnessed significant intake of immigrants including Sikhs, some of whom insisted on their right to wear a kirpan. The extensive public debate that followed afforded valuable insight on the political process of policy-making in education and accommodating diversity in public educational institutions. The debate also set the stage for the development of the Peel Board’s equity policy documents--Manifesting Encouraging and Respectful Environments and The Future We Want launched in 2000. Despite the new equity documents, some observers have remarked that institutional change is slow unless pressure is applied by the courts or the Ontario Human Rights Commission. While the kirpan issue has been put to rest in Canada, issues of competing rights continue to challenge Canadians. The kirpan case demonstrates that balancing competing rights in a multicultural society is an ongoing struggle with no final resolution. In the twenty-first century, as Canada continues to diversify, debates concerning accommodation continue to be reflected in the public schools.

In 1990, a case came before the Ontario Human Rights Commission involving the collision of a religious rights policy enshrined in the Ontario Human Rights Code 1981 and a Peel Board of Education disciplinary policy prohibiting weapons including the kirpan, a dagger-like article of religious faith worn by baptized Sikhs. Harbhajan Singh Pandori claimed infringement of his religious rights as a Sikh under the Code. In a joint complaint, the Ontario Human Rights Commission alleged the Code had been violated in a Peel Board policy restricting the religious rights of Sikhs by prohibiting the kirpan. Attempts to mediate between complainant Sikhs and the Peel Board failed. The dispute went before an Ontario Human Rights Commission tribunal adjudicated by Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut who ruled that the kirpan was a religious symbol and could be worn to school subject to restrictions. The Pandori kirpan case illustrates the complexity of resolving issues of cultural and religious conflict in public institutions undergoing demographic change. Significant to the kirpan case were Canadian immigration policy changes which eliminated race and ethnicity from admission criteria. As a result, the Region of Peel witnessed significant intake of immigrants including Sikhs, some of whom insisted on their right to wear a kirpan. The extensive public debate that followed afforded valuable insight on the political process of policy-making in education and accommodating diversity in public educational institutions. The debate also set the stage for the development of the Peel Board’s equity policy documents--Manifesting Encouraging and Respectful Environments and The Future We Want launched in 2000. Despite the new equity documents, some observers have remarked that institutional change is slow unless pressure is applied by the courts or the Ontario Human Rights Commission. While the kirpan issue has been put to rest in Canada, issues of competing rights continue to challenge Canadians. The kirpan case demonstrates that balancing competing rights in a multicultural society is an ongoing struggle with no final resolution. In the twenty-first century, as Canada continues to diversify, debates concerning accommodation continue to be reflected in the public schools.

The purpose of this study was to determine the overall effectiveness of and the level of engagement in performance assessment processes by Indiana school boards in relation to the Indiana School Board's Associations (ISBA) Code of Ethics as perceived by school administrators. Additionally, there were four objectives: (a) to determine what extent Indiana school boards engage in a process of formal evaluation of their own performance and effectiveness; (b) to determine if there is a difference in perceived compliance to the ISBA Code of Ethics for school boards who engage in school board performance evaluation compared to those school boards who do not; (c) to determine if there is a relationship between the educational background of school board members and school boards performing their duties according to the ISBA Code of Ethics; and (d) to determine the overall perceptions of Indiana school superintendents and randomly selected elementary and secondary principals as to whether school board performance is currently in accordance with the ISBA Code of Ethics. Research questions and hypotheses were developed to determine school superintendents' and randomly selected elementary and secondary school principals' perceptions and possible differences and/or relationships.A descriptive survey research procedure was used in this study, which sought information regarding the professional activities of each participant's school board in comparison to the ISBA Code of Ethics. The questionnaire was constructed in order to answer four research questions and three null hypotheses.The findings indicated: (1) 32.5% of Indiana school boards evaluate their own performance and effectiveness; (2) 67.5% of Indiana school boards do not evaluate their own performance and effectiveness; (3) school boards that engage in performance evaluation processes tend to adhere more strongly to the ISBA Code of Ethics in comparison with those school boards that do not engage in performance evaluation; (4) there was no relationship between the educational background of school board members and school board performance in accordance with the ISBA Code of Ethics; and (5) there did appear to be a significant difference between how superintendents and principals perceive school board performance when compared to the ISBA Code of Ethics. / Department of Educational Leadership

This thesis examines School Generated Funding (SGF) within the Toronto District School (TDSB) to see if SGF is reinforcing a two-tier education system. Five sources of data were analyzed: The SGF Record of the TDSB from 2008-2009, The Preliminary School Budget from 2010-2011, EQAO test results from 2008 to 2009, The Learning Opportunity Index (LOI) from 2009, and three socio-economic status factors (income, education and occupation) using the Toronto Wards Profiles. Using the SGF record, twenty green schools (schools that raised the most SGF, amounting to $4,043,837) were compared, using the five sources of data against twenty red schools (schools that raised the least amount of SGF, amounting to $109,885). Two recommendations have been suggested: SGF be capped at a median amount throughout the TDSB and extra funding be put into a funding account for the TDSB to disperse to schools that need it.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 182-190).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2006. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 44-06, page: 2512. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-88).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Toronto, 2005.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2007. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2783.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1978. / Title from title page screen, viewed Jan. 6, 2005. Dissertation Committee: Clayton Thomas, Ronald Halinski (co-chairs), Benjamin Hubbard, Mary Zey-Ferrell, Creta Sabine. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-84) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1998. / Title from title page screen, viewed July 6, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Elizabeth T. Lugg, Paul J. Baker (co-chairs), Dianne E. Ashby, Mike Szymczuk. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 144-156) and abstract. Also available in print.