Law Commons^™

The Educational Autonomy Of Perfectionist Religious Groups In A Liberal State, Mark D. Rosen

All Faculty Scholarship

This Article draws upon, but reworks, John Rawls’ framework from Political Liberalism to determine the degree of educational autonomy that illiberal perfectionist religious groups ought to enjoy in a liberal state. I start by arguing that Rawls mistakenly concludes that political liberalism flatly cannot accommodate Perfectionists, and that his misstep is attributable to two errors: (1) Rawls utilizes an overly restrictive “political conception of the person” in determining who participates in the original position, and (2) Rawls overlooks the possibility of a “federalist” basic political structure that can afford significant political autonomy to different groups within a single country. With …

Civil Rights, Charter Schools, And Lessons To Be Learned, Derek W. Black

Faculty Publications

Two major structural shifts have occurred in education reform in the past two decades: the decline of civil rights reforms and the rise of charter schools. Courts and policy makers have relegated traditional civil rights reforms that address segregation, poverty, disability, and language barriers to near irrelevance, while charter schools and policies supporting their creation and expansion have rapidly increased and now dominate federal policy. Advocates of traditional civil rights reforms interpret the success of charter schools as a threat to their cause, and, consequently, have fought the expansion of charter schools. This Article argues that the civil rights community …

Teacher Leadership: Women (Of African Descent) Enacting Social Justice, Vonzell Agosto, Zorka Karanxha

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Growth Model Evaluations: Possibilities And Pitfalls, John A. Dively Jr

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

In response to Race to the Top mandates, student academic growth models are being incorporated into teacher evaluation processes across the country. Illinois’ version of the reform is the Performance Evaluation Reform Act. This paper briefly summarizes the new law and its impact to date. Further, the paper provides reflection upon the current research related to VAMs, and the possible legal consequences of relying on student growth models as a significant component of teacher personnel decisions.

Growth Model Evaluations: Possibilities And Pitfalls, John Dively

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

In response to Race to the Top mandates, student academic growth models are being incorporated into teacher evaluation processes across the country. Illinois’ version of the reform is the Performance Evaluation Reform Act. This paper briefly summarizes the new law and its impact to date. Further, the paper provides reflection upon the current research related to VAMs, and the possible legal consequences of relying on student growth models as a significant component of teacher personnel decisions.

Legal Considerations: Student Activities, Organizations & Greek Life, John Sanders

Parameters of Law in Student Affairs and Higher Education (CNS 670)

No abstract provided.

Reevaluating The Evaluations, Andy Brunner-Brown

GGU Law Review Blog

No abstract provided.

2011-12 Arkansas Open-Enrollment Charter School Test Results, Reed Greenwood, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

Charter schools are receiving more attention in Arkansas and across the nation, as the number of these public schools of choice in Arkansas fluctuates each year. Some charters have been closed, while new ones have been opened. Further, in many media outlets, charter schools are often lumped together as one entity. However, ‘charter school’ is not a blanket term. They are separate schools run under separate charter documents with different operators. In Arkansas, there are two types of charter schools: conversion charter schools and openenrollment charter schools. Conversion charter schools are governed by the leadership in the district in which …

Grutter's Denouement: Three Templates From The Roberts Court, Ellen D. Katz

NULR Online

No abstract provided.

Orientation And Residence Life: Legal Considerations, Cady Denton, Samuel Earls, Nikki N. Eversole, Robin Hume, Stephanie Lott, Kathryn Looft

Parameters of Law in Student Affairs and Higher Education (CNS 670)

No abstract provided.

The Law Of Social Quotas: An Examination Of Brazil’S Efforts For Greater Diversity In The Classroom, Benjamin Williams

In the Balance

No abstract provided.

The Status Of Teachers Unions: Are Rumors Of Their Demise Exaggerated?, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Recent legislation raised questions about the status of teachers unions and public-sector collective bargaining. Although the changes in Florida, Idaho, and Tennessee occurred with a minimum of disruption, the same was not true in Ohio and Wisconsin. Voters in Ohio repudiated a law that would have placed significant limits on the rights of public employees to bargain collectively (McNeil 2011a). Conversely, voters in Wisconsin defeated a recall election intended to remove the governor and legislators who acted to curtail the bargaining power of teachers unions (Stein 2012).

Organized labor and collective bargaining in education have grown to the point at …

Houston, We Have A…Solution?, Reed Greenwood, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

The Arkansas Department of Education recently released the list of the lowest performing schools in Arkansas—labeled as focus and priority schools. Now that these schools have been singled out, they will be subjected to heavy intervention. Educators and policymakers all over Arkansas have their eyes on these schools and are asking - what's next? How do we turn around lower performing schools? What works? In this policy brief, we outline one particular program—the Apollo 20 program—that is working to turnaround achievement in lower performing schools. Early results show gains comparable with prominent charter schools in the nation, but some criticize …

Blaine It On Politics: The (Non-) Effect Of Anti-Aid Amendments On Private School Choice Programs In The U.S. States, Patrick J. Wolf, Richard D. Komer, Michael Q. Mcshane

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

James G. Blaine was a prominent American politician of the late 19th Century. Although Blaine was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for President in 1884, U.S. Secretary of State, Speaker of the House, and a Senator from Maine, his primary legacy was the enshrinement of "anti-aid" amendments in the constitutions of 39 U.S. states. These so-called "Blaine Amendments" were designed to prohibit government funds from supporting "sectarian" religious organizations such as schools and charities. In Blaine's day, "sectarian" was widely understood to be a euphemism for "Catholic". Nondenominationally Protestant organizations such as the public schools of the day were considered to …

Common Core State Standards In Arkansas, Caleb P. Rose, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

In July 2010, the Arkansas Board of Education adopted the Common Core State Standards and the PARCC Assessment program. The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) then created a strategic plan and a timeline for the implementation of the standards. The new standards were implemented in Arkansas K-2 classrooms this past school year, 2011-12. During this current school year, 2012-13, the standards are being implemented in grades 3-8.

Arkansas’ Esea Waiver Approval Update, Caleb P. Rose, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

On June 29th, 2012, the US Department of Education announced that it had approved Arkansas’s ESEA waiver request. On July 4th, the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) announced it had identified 48 Priority and 110 Focus schools. Priority and Focus schools are the new names for the two lowest-rated school performance categories; schools and districts in these categories are subject to ADE intervention. This policy brief explains the major differences between the accountability system under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the new revised system.

2011-2012 Arkansas Test Results, Reed Greenwood, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

On Monday, July 30, the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) released the 2011-2012 test score results. The following brief will highlight the results of these tests, compare achievement scores over time, and provide a glimpse of regional achievement results for the following exams:  Benchmark Exam (Grades 3-8)  End-of-Course Exam (Algebra I, Geometry, Biology, and Grade 11 Literacy).  Iowa Test of Basic Skills (Grades 1-9)

Golden Gate Names Interim Dean, Cynthia Foster

2012-2017: Rachel Van Cleave

No abstract provided.

Bullying Victimization As A Disability In Public Elementary And Secondary Education, Douglas E. Abrams

Faculty Publications

This article discusses two reasons why likening bullying victimization to an educational disability makes sense. First, face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying impose on student victims the sort of educational deprivation that the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) addresses in the disabilities arena. Second, today’s belated public sensitivity to school bullying victims resembles the belated public sensitivity to students with disabilities that led to passage of the IDEA in 1975.

Dead Document Walking, Gary S. Lawson

Faculty Scholarship

As this symposium commences, originalism is a hot topic to discuss and a cool position to advocate. Either portion of that statement would have been nearly inconceivable two decades ago when I started in academia. Originalism at that time was something of an intellectual backwater, with a very limited set of adherents and an even more limited set of critics who were willing to take originalist ideas seriously.1

How Not To Criminalize Cyberbullying, Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky, Andrea Garcia

UF Law Faculty Publications

This essay provides a sustained constitutional critique of the growing body of laws criminalizing cyberbullying. These laws typically proceed by either modernizing existing harassment and stalking laws or crafting new criminal offenses. Both paths are beset with First Amendment perils, which this essay illustrates through 'case studies' of selected legislative efforts. Though sympathetic to the aims of these new laws, this essay contends that reflexive criminalization in response to tragic cyberbullying incidents has led law-makers to conflate cyberbullying as a social problem with cyberbullying as a criminal problem, creating pernicious consequences. The legislative zeal to eradicate cyberbullying potentially produces disproportionate …

Law And Policy Entrepreneurs: Empirical Evidence On The Expansion Of School Choice Policy, Michael Heise

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This study leverages event history analysis to help explain the expansion of public charter school legislation between 1991–2006. This study expands previous work in two important ways. First, while critical distinctions separate public charter school and school voucher programs, both fall comfortably within the broader rubric of “school choice.” As such, it is difficult to understand the development of state legislation for one school choice variant independent of the other. Thus, this analysis includes the presence of publicly- or privately-funded voucher programs in a state as a possible factor influencing the adoption of charter school legislation in a state. Second, …

The Parental Choice Fallacy In Education Reform Debates, James G. Dwyer

Faculty Publications

Some tout parental school choice as a strategy for promoting, among other school-related goods, educational innovation. This Article offers clarifying and skeptical thoughts about that position. It first explains what “educational innovation” and “parental choice” mean. It then considers what limitations on this strategy might arise from existing legal regulations, from market forces, or from ethical obligations to children. Finally, the Article explains why parental choice is also unlikely to improve education for the children most in need of a better academic environment and suggests an alternative approach to student reassignment that is much more likely to do so.

Traditional And Charter School Funding In Arkansas, Reed Greenwood, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

Charter schools, once considered an anomaly, are becoming increasingly common in the U.S. There are concerns among some education stakeholders that charter schools pull funding away from traditional public schools, since a large portion of education funds follow the student to the charter school. Conversely, some argue that there are funding inequities that favor public schools. These individuals claim that since charter schools are public schools, the funds allocated to them should be the equivalent of that received by the traditional public schools. This brief examines funding of traditional and charter schools in Arkansas

Examining Pre Service Teacher Knowledge Of Student Rights And Tort Liability, Alexi Wiemer

Honors Scholar Theses

This study explored how knowledgeable pre service teachers in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut were in the field of student rights and tort liability. This field has grown in importance due to a recent increase in student lawsuits and the expectations that teachers know these laws when they become certified. A total of 183 students were given a survey in their education classes with 27 statements of famous misconceptions about student rights and tort liability. Students were asked to determine if these statements were true or false and how confident they were in their answer. …

"If The Plaintiffs Are Right, Grutter Is Wrong": Why Fisher V. University Of Texas Presents An Opportunity For The Supreme Court To Overturn A Flawed Decision, Brooks H. Spears

Law Student Publications

The constitutionality of affirmative action in America's public higher education institutions ("HEIs") gained prominence in the late 1970s with the Supreme Court's decision in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. The Bakke decision was less than clear, but it provided the framework in which HEls formulated their admission policies regarding the use of race. Nevertheless, the law regarding affirmative action remained unsettled, and the circuits remained split.

Barbara Garii's Book Review Of Student Teaching And The Law In The Journal Of Tutoring And Mentoring: Partnership In Learning, Zorka Karanxha

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Aals Section On Women In Legal Education: The Past And The Future, Elizabeth M. Schneider

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Education's Elusive Future, Storied Past, And The Fundamental Inequity In Between, Derek W. Black

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Arkansas’ Plan For Accountability And Achievement: Analyzing The Esea Waiver Request, Misty Newcomb, Greg Michel

Policy Briefs

In October 2011, President Obama developed rules for states to individually develop requests for waivers to the accountability requirements of No Child Left Behind. This week, the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) submitted the plan for the state of Arkansas’ request for waivers.