Four variables which have obstructed the Hillsbrough County Public Schools System's (HCPSS) compliance with the former Department of Health, Education and Welfare/Office for Civil Rights (DHEW/OCR) regulations and guidelines based on the Lau v. Nichols Supreme Court decision are examined in this study. The four variables which affected the school district's noncompliance status are (1) the bilateral misinterpretation of critical communication between the national and regional headquarters of the Office for Civil Rights and the school district, (2) the inability to comply, (3) the lack of experiential and professional backgrounds of the staffs of the school district and OCR, and (4) the semantic interpretation of the special legal and pedagogical aspects of bilingual education. / Descriptive, legal and investigative research was conducted to determine the effects of the interaction of the four variables in the school district's compliance efforts and the numerous problems which ensued. The investigator conducted interviews with key staff representatives of the school district, regional and national headquarters of OCR, a regional "Lau" Center, the Florida Department of Education, and DHEW officials in the General Counsel's Office, and the Office of Bilingual Education in Washington, D.C. An examination of the Lau decision and related cases, and the federal statutory and regulatory provisions of the Congress and U.S. Executive Agencies was conducted to clarify the legal base for bilingual education. Descriptive research of the various existing definitions and models of bilingual education was conducted to explain the pedagogical base for bilingual education. / Correspondence (letters, memoranda, records of telephone conversations, reports, minutes of meetings) were analyzed to determine the nature of critical communication regarding Lau compliance among the agencies and the school district involved. / The school district comprehensive plans were reviewed as the operational interpretation of the OCR mandate. / The recommendations address federal, state and local actions which can be utilized to improve the quality of instruction provided in bilingual education programs. A set of school district-level guidelines is presented to assist school districts comply with federal regulations. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-03, Section: A, page: 0976. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74135 |
| Contributors | LUPO-ANDERSON, ANGELA MARIE., The Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 351 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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