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EDUC669 - Education, Law, Ethics, and Politics
Course Details
Course Code: EDUC669 Course ID: 4340 Credit Hours: 3 Level: Graduate
This course explores legal, ethical and politics issues governing K-12 education in America and the legal responsibilities and powers of state and local governing bodies and individuals that arise in elementary and secondary schools. This course focuses on understanding federal codes, case law, policies, and significant precedent and will emphasize analysis of key legal concepts and application of law to specific situations. The ethics of decision making and the process through which school leaders can advocate for political reform will be examined. Major areas of analysis include personnel, risk management, curriculum, student services, parent and student rights, teacher rights and torts.
Course Schedule
| Registration Dates | Course Dates | Session | Weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11/25/19 - 05/01/20 | 05/04/20 - 06/28/20 | Spring 2020 Session I | 8 Week session |
| 02/24/20 - 07/31/20 | 08/03/20 - 09/27/20 | Summer 2020 Session I | 8 Week session |
| 05/25/20 - 10/30/20 | 11/02/20 - 12/27/20 | Fall 2020 Session I | 8 Week session |
Current Syllabi
After successfully completing this course, students will be able to:
- Interpret the legal system as it applies to education. (ELCC 5.4)(PII: 4.D, 4.G, 4.I)
- Distinguish the roles of federal, state, and local levels in the governance of education. (ELCC 5.4)
- Apply legal principles to educational issues. (ELCC 5.4) (PII: 4.D, 4.G, 4.I)
- Access and apply legal documentation to educational issues. (ELCC 5.4)
- Evaluate and apply ethical principles to educational issues. (ELCC 5.1, 6.2)
ELCC=Educational Leadership Constituency Council PII=Praxis II
Forums
Please join the forums each week. Students must post a reply to weekly forums and reply to at least 2 other students for each Forum. This means that each week you should have 1 initial post and at least 2 responsive posts. A minimum of three posts are required to receive a B on weekly forums. To receive higher than a B you must post more than the minimum and you must support your responses with outside research or literature. Replies must be posted in the week due and replies after the end of the each week will not be graded. The Forums are for student interaction and input should be submitted before the week ends in order to fully participate in the discussions. Students should demonstrate their own knowledge in the forums and avoid copying and pasting from websites.
Guidelines:
- Post the initial response to each forum by 11:55pm, ET, Thursday.
- Initial responses should be no less than 300 words.
- Initial responses are to be original in content and demonstrate a thorough analysis of the topic.
- Reply to at least 2 of your classmates in each forum by 11:55pm, ET, Sunday.
- Replies to classmates should be no less than 150 words.
- Responses to classmates are significant to advance the forum.
- All forums can be accessed in the Forums section of the course.
Assignments
Case Brief 1: Code of Ethics
Review the Code of Ethics from the Association of American Educators. Select one ethical principle and discuss how the law could contradict one of the ethical principles.
Case Brief 2: Student Rights and Responsibilities
Choose one judicial case that discusses one of the topics in this week’s readings.
Case Brief 3: Section 504
Select a case regarding special education or Section 504 (from anywhere in the United States) that has been decided no earlier than 2007.
Case Brief 4: Employment Relationship
Select a case regarding the employment relationship (from anywhere in the United States) that has been decided after 2007.
Case Brief 5: Teachers Rights
Select a case regarding teachers rights of any kind (from anywhere in the United States) that has been decided after 2007.
Case Brief 6: Religion in Schools
Select a case regarding religion in schools (from anywhere in the United States) that has been decided after 2007.
Projects
Copyright Professional Development
Create a copyright professional development activity and present it to at least one peer. Include an evaluation of the presentation from the participant(s) and upload a visual presentation of the professional development (presentation with voice or video). (Field Experience Log Activity for Certification Students)
(5 hours)
Essay (Obj. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
Students will have an essay assignment that consists of essay questions covering information from the chapters covered prior to the assignment. Essay responses require a minimum of five (5) paragraphs. This assignment is not cumulative and covers only set information.
| Name | Grade % |
|---|---|
| Forum | 33.00 % |
| Introductions | 3.30 % |
| Forum 1: State's Rights in Education | 3.67 % |
| Forum 2: Safe Schools | 3.67 % |
| Forum 3: Student Discipline | 3.67 % |
| Forum 4: Section 504 | 3.67 % |
| Forum 5: Teacher Non-Renewal | 3.67 % |
| Forum 6: Right to Work | 3.67 % |
| Forum 7: Hypothetical Case | 3.67 % |
| Forum 8: Equal Access Act | 3.67 % |
| Forum 9: Hypothetical Situation | 3.67 % |
| Assignments | 33.00 % |
| Case Brief 1: Code of Ethics | 5.50 % |
| Case Brief 2: Student Rights and Responsibilities | 5.50 % |
| Case Brief 3: Section 504 | 5.50 % |
| Case Brief 4: Employment Relationship | 5.50 % |
| Case Brief 5: Teachers Rights | 5.50 % |
| Case Brief 6: Religion in Schools | 5.50 % |
| Project | 34.00 % |
| Copyright Professional Development | 17.00 % |
| Final Essay - On The Issues | 17.00 % |
Required Readings
Essex, N. L. (2009). The 200 most frequently asked legal questions for educators[TM1] .
Recommended Materials
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). (2009). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
Web Sites
In addition to the required course texts, the following public domain web sites are useful. Please abide by the university’s academic honesty policy when using Internet sources as well. Note web site addresses are subject to change.
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APA Format |
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Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice |
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DOJ - Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention |
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FindLaw |
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National Center on Education, Disability, and Juvenile Justice |
http://www.edjj.org |
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Office of Special Education Programs |
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University of Michigan – Legislative Histories United States Congress |
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US Census Bureau |
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US Dept of Education – No Child Left Behind |
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U USA Today - census data |
American jurisprudence (encyclopedia). Rochester, NY: Lawyers Cooperative.
American law reports (annotations). Rochester, NY: Lawyers Cooperative.
Black's law dictionary. St. Paul, MN: West.
BYU Education and Law Journal. Brigham Young University.
Corpus juris secundum (encyclopedia). St. Paul, MN: West.
Education Law Reporter. St. Paul, MN: West.
Education Law Quarterly. St. Paul, MN: West.
Education Week. Washington, DC: Editorial Projects in Education.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Law Report. Horsham, PA: LRP Publications.
Journal of Law and Education. Washington, DC: Jefferson Law Book.
ELA School Law Reporter. Dayton, OH: Education Law Association.
School Law News. Washington, DC: Capitol Publications.
The yearbook of education law. Dayton, OH: Education Law Association.
LEXIS/NEXIS data base. Dayton, OH: Mead Data Central.
WESTLAW data base. St Paul, MN: West.
[TM1]Need city/state and publisher.
| Book Title: | Various resources from the Open Web are used. Please visit http://apus.libguides.com/er.php to locate the course eReserve. |
| Author: | No Author Specified |
Previous Syllabi
Not current for future courses.