EDUC669 - Education, Law, Ethics, and Politics

After successfully completing this course, students will be able to:

1. Interpret the legal system as it applies to education. (ELCC 5.4)(PII: 4.D, 4.G, 4.I)
2. Distinguish the roles of federal, state, and local levels in the governance of education. (ELCC 5.4)
3. Apply legal principles to educational issues. (ELCC 5.4) (PII: 4.D, 4.G, 4.I)
4. Access and apply legal documentation to educational issues. (ELCC 5.4)
5. 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.

Forum Rubric

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

Case Brief 2: Student Rights and Responsibilities

Choose one judicial case that discusses one of the topics in this week’s readings.

Case Brief

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

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

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

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.

Case Brief

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.

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.

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.