Education Commons^™

Beware: Teachers Who Blog, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

A recent case from Pennsylvania, Munroe v. Central Bucks School District (2014), raises fresh questions about the free speech and expression rights of public school teachers as they use the Internet. In Munroe, when a board terminated a high school teacher’s employment for making controversial postings about her students and colleagues on her personal blog—postings that proved disruptive—a federal trial court rejected the educator’s claim that she was dismissed in retaliation for exercising her right to free speech.

Before reviewing the facts and judicial opinion in Munroe, it is worth noting that blogs (a term coined in the late 1990s …

Two Languages Are Better Than One, Corinne Brion

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Bilingual education could improve education outcomes in one of the world’s poorest nations.

In one of the world’s poorest countries, a model of bilingual education is emerging that could have a substantial effect on the nation. Landlocked, subSaharan Burkina Faso has battled high illiteracy and high dropout rates since gaining independence from France in 1960. Scholars say the problem stems from the lack of culturally appropriate education, and some have suggested bilingual education as part of a solution. To that extent, the Burkinabe government and local nongovernmental organizations have started a program, Bilingual Indigenous Community Education, which aims to instruct …

Professional Qualifications And Gender, Theodore J. Kowalski

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Literature comparing male and female superintendents rather consistently has reported differences in professional qualifications. Most notably, females have higher levels of professional experience, especially as teachers, before becoming a superintendent. Logically, authors studying this topic conclude that females usually must have superior credentials to enter the position. Two findings in AASA's latest decennial study of superintendents, one pertaining to teaching experience and the other to age upon entering the position, suggest the conclusion remains valid. In 2010, 28 percent of males and 13 percent of females had fewer than 6 years of teaching experience. In 2000, those figures were 41 …

Google Glass And Education: The Wave Of The Future?, Charles J. Russo, Reece Newman, Chad Brown

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

In the evolving, fast-paced world of technology, a fairly recent development that has the potential to affect instruction, privacy, and cost for school boards is Google Glass, introduced to the public in April 2012 and named by Time magazine as one of 2012’s best inventions of the year. Google Glass devices are wearable headset computers with optical headmounted transparent display screens (640 x 360 pixels) that essentially bring Android and iPhone capacities to eyeglasses. They can be activated by voice or touch and can record video and audio or live-stream events observed by wearers (Miller 2013). They include, among other …

Race-Based Preferences And The Supreme Court, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

So-called race-conscious remedies ensure that all citizens are considered fairly and equally for employment and education opportunities. The legal status of race-conscious remedies continues to present challenges for education leaders, policymakers, and lawmakers.

Student Motives For Taking Online Courses In Educational Administration, Theodore J. Kowalski, David Alan Dolph, Ila Phillip Young

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

This study was conducted with students enrolled in a master’s degree program in educational administration at a private research university that offered all required courses in both online and in-class formats. The purposes were to determine (a) the extent to which online courses were selected, (b) the level of importance students placed on four common motives for taking online courses, and (c) levels of association between the importance of values and two demographic variables (employment level and years of teaching experience). The extent to which students took online courses varied considerably. Convenience and flexibility were the most important motives and …

Superintendent Mobility, Theodore J. Kowalski

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

A study nearly 50 years ago categorized superintendents as being either career-bound or place-bound. The former consisted of administrators inclined to advance their career by relocating to a new school district or state. The latter group consisted of administrators who sought internal promotions over relocation.

Two findings from AASA:s latest decennial superintendents' study reveal virtually no change in mobility since 2000. This outcome is somewhat surprising in light of the increases in the number of post-retirement individuals continuing to serve in the superintendency by accepting a job covered by another state's pension system.

Perceptions Of State Education Agencies, Theodore J. Kowalski

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Relationships between state government and school districts reflect long-standing tensions involving liberty and equity. In states where the former is emphasized, the authority and scope of responsibilities relegated to state agencies are limited, so local boards and superintendents have considerable leeway to make decisions. In states that exercise centralized controls to provide reasonably equal educational opportunities, localities have less flexibility. Consequently, superintendent survey ratings should be considered in light of such dissimilarities across state education departments.

An AASA superintendency study indicated superintendents held widely differing views of their state education agencies. In general, district enrollment, with one exception, was not …

Negligence, Student Supervision, And School Business Officials, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

With a new school year on the horizon, the topic of adequate student supervision is once again on educators’ minds. Whether students are attending classes, playing in school yards, or participating in extracurricular sports or other activities, educators are at risk of liability for injuries that children sustain if officials fail to meet their duty to protect youngsters from unreasonable risks of harm.

Accordingly, awareness of the principles relating to the legal duty to supervise students adequately and the defenses to negligence can go a long way toward shielding school districts from liability. As evidenced by the representative cases cited …

Workers’ Compensation And The School Business Official, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Workers’ compensation laws emerged during the Industrial Revolution to protect individuals and their families from salary losses and medical expenses that resulted from work-related injuries, illnesses, or death. The laws allow employees to receive partial or full benefits temporarily or permanently, depending on the seriousness of their conditions.

In light of the significance of workers’ compensation laws for school board budgets and staffing, this column begins with a brief history of the statutes; examines the components of a typical workers’ compensation statute, along with selected representative recent litigation; and then offers recommendations for school business officials (SBOs), their boards, and …

Idea And Alternative Dispute Resolution: A Primer, Charles J. Russo, Allan G. Osborne Jr.

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedures are the cornerstone of the provisions in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that mandate the timely resolution of disagreements between parents and school officials.

ADR procedures are in the form of mediation and resolution sessions that are held before culminating in due process hearings. The sessions are designed to be speedier, less costly, and less adversarial than litigation. Subject to infrequent exceptions, disagreements can be subject to judicial review only after parents and education officials have exhausted the administrative remedies under the IDEA. The provisions establish time frames that parties must meet before …

Value Added Methods: Moving From Univariate To Multivariate Criteria, David Newman, Isadore Newman, Carolyn Ridenour, Jennifer Morales

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The authors describe five value-added methods (VAM) used in school assessment as the backdrop to their main thesis. Then they review the assumptions underlying measurement and evaluation, the foundation of all assessment systems, including value-added. They discuss the traditional criterion variable used in VAM: a standardized test score. Next, they challenge the univariate assumptions of VAMs, and argue that a multivariate paradigm of VAM is more advantageous for educators and stakeholders. Finally they describe a potential scenario whereby a multivariate VAM might be implemented.

A Primer On Charter Schools And The Law, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The charter school movement began in 1991, when Minnesota enacted the first law authorizing their creation. To date, 41 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico permit the creation of charter schools, according to the National Charter School Resource Center (n.d.).

Charter schools, public schools of choice, are usually operated as not-for-profit institutions independently or occasionally in conjunction with public organizations, such as colleges and universities. As such, they have generally survived challenges to their constitutionality.

This column provides a primer for education leaders on the legal basics associated with the operations of charter schools. It does not …

Superintendent Search Assistance, Theodore J. Kowalski

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

About 46 percent of school boards conducted their most recent superintendent search without a professional consultant. In 2000, some 54 percent went it alone on their search, according to AASI!(s decennial superintendency surveys. During the past decade, the percentage of districts hiring private help to fill their CEO vacancy increased from about 18 percent to 24 percent. School districts retaining the state school boards association for this purpose increased from 19 percent in 2000 to 22 percent in 2010.

The School District Superintendent In The United States Of America, Lars G. Björk, Theodore J. Kowalski, Tricia Browne-Ferrigno

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Public education is one of the main forces that make a healthy and democratic society. It strives to educate and to provide the younger generation knowledge and skills that allow children to become contributing citizens in their society. Public education is considered highly significant in consolidating the society and establishing its cultural and economic strength. For those reasons, governments choose to invest a significant portion of the state’s national resources in public schooling.

Taking into account the costs and political significance attributed to public education, it is not surprising that governments establish some formal mechanism responsible for the monitoring of …

International Perspectives On Education, Religion And Law, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

From publisher: This volume examines the legal status of religion in education, both public and non-public, in the United States and seven other nations. It will stimulate further interest, research, and debate on comparative analyses on the role of religion in schools at a time when the place of religion is of vital interest in most parts of the world. This interdisciplinary volume includes chapters by leading academicians and is designed to serve as a resource for researchers and educational practitioners, providing readers with an enhanced awareness of strategies for addressing the role of religion in rapidly diversifying educational settings. …