UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT
GREENSBORO
School of Education
Educational Leadership and Cultural
Foundations
ELC 687: LEGAL AND ETHICAL
DIMENSIONS OF LEADERSHIP
Course Syllabus
Three credits--No prerequisites
This course
is a requirement for all students in the Masters in School Administration
program. ELC 687 serves as an elective course for students in the Ed.S. and
Ed.D. in Educational Leadership, the Ph.D. in Cultural Foundations, other
departments in the School of Education, and graduate students in other programs
across the University
Instructor Information
|
Dr. Carl
Lashley Educational
Leadership and Cultural Studies University
of North Carolina at Greensboro 245 Curry
Hall P.O. Box
26171 Greensboro,
NC 27402-6171 |
336-334-3745
(office) 336-545-0916
(home) Email: Carl_Lashley@UNCG.edu EMail for
Course Assignments Submissions Only: elc687@bellsouth.net
|
Course
Website: http://www.uncg.edu/elc/faculty/Lashley
Catalog
Description:
Course
Purpose: This
course introduces students to the legal and ethical reasoning systems that influence
the practice of school administrators. Special emphasis is given to legal and
ethical deliberations that occur at the school level. Legal and ethical issues
will be examined with particular consideration for their implications for
school leaders in North Carolina.
Teachers
Academy Conceptual Framework Mission Statement: The mission of professional
education at UNCG is to prepare and support the professional development of
caring, collaborative, and competent educators who work in diverse settings. This
mission is carried out in an environment that nurtures the active engagement of
all participants, values individual as well as cultural diversity and
recognizes the importance of reflection and integration of theory and practice.
UNCG's
professional education programs are guided by shared commitments to: (a) equity
and excellence in teaching, research, and service; (b) professional integrity
and ethical deliberation in dealing with students and colleagues
(university-based, school-based, and community-based); (c) the construction of
a professional knowledge base through collaboration and collegiality; and (d)
the dissemination of professional knowledge, skills and dispositions through
the preparation and continuing professional development of teachers, principals
and other school personnel.
Course
Objectives:
Through the
experiences in this course, students will be able to:
1. discuss
how school governance and decision making are affected by legal and ethical
considerations;
2.
understand how federal, state, district, and school regulations, policies, and
procedures are utilized in school governance and decision making and discuss
the roles legal and ethical reasoning play in their development;
3.
understand basic principles of education law and the constitutional, ethical,
and educational values that support them;
4.
understand the effects of significant legal cases on issues of student rights,
equal educational opportunity, teacher rights, and administrative
responsibility for school-related activities;
5.
articulate his/her ethical principles, relate them to recognized ethical
schools of thought, and apply them to situations that face school leaders; and
6. assess
the facts of a situation, identify the legal and ethical considerations
involved, and use appropriate legal and ethical reasoning to determine
alternative courses of action for representative school situations.
Teaching
Strategies: A significant portion of this course will be presented via
the Internet. Students will be expected to participate actively in the class
listserv, complete assignments and submit them using email and email
attachments, and use a web browser. In order to participate in the web-enhanced
portions of the course, students must have access to a computer, modem or other
Internet access hardware, an Internet Service Provider (ISP), an email account,
a web browser (Netscape Navigator 4.0 or higher or Internet Explorer 4.0 or
higher), and Adobe Acrobat Reader (available free at www.adobe.com). A certain level of computer literacy is
expected at the beginning of the course, and students will develop their
computing and Internet access skills as the course develops. Students who do
not feel comfortable with their computing skills should make arrangements to
participate in some training and/or have a computer mentor who can help with
questions and problems.
Students
will submit some assignments as email attachments and will work with other
students in cooperative learning assignments that will require sharing written
information. Students should know the brand and version of the word processing
and presentation software they have available, and they should be able to save
files in various formats in order to facilitate file sharing with the
instructor and classmates.
Students
will spend a significant amount of time outside of the class working
independently and in small groups. Because of the web-based enhancements that
have been made, students should plan to spend a considerable length of time
each week using the Internet to participate in class activities. The amount of
time that will be spent attending class on campus has been reduced accordingly.
Evaluation
Methods and Guidelines for Assignments
Students’
performance in this class will be evaluated on the basis of their
accomplishments in six areas. Course assignments will be graded as A+ (4.25), A
(4.0), A- (3.75), B+ (3.25), B (3.0), B- (2.75), and resubmit (0.0).
Assignments are due on the dates noted in the Assignment Calendar. Late
assignments will result in a grade reduction of one-half letter (0.5). A rubric
for grading in this course is attached for students’ consideration in
preparing assignments and understanding the instructor’s standards.
Group Case Memoranda
(8)
(20% of final grade)
The
purpose of this assignment is to assist students in identifying key legal and
ethical concepts from cases and in developing their legal and ethical
vocabularies and reasoning. During the first class, students will be divided
into work groups of five, which will remain intact throughout the semester. For
each case, a group leader will be chosen who will take responsibility for
leading the group through its deliberations about the case and who will be
responsible for submitting the group's case memorandum. Group leadership must
be rotated through the group until all members have served as group leader. The
group leader's name should be designated, along with the other group members'
names, on the case memorandum. All group members must participate in the
development of each of the eight case memoranda that are assigned for the
semester.
A
case memorandum examines the legal and ethical dimensions in a case, provides a
course of action an administrator should take to resolve the issues in the
case, and justifies that course of action on legal and ethical grounds. A case
memorandum is two to three pages in length (single spaced, standard margins),
and the audience (staff, parents, community, district level administrators,
board of education) to whom the
memorandum is addressed is provided in the To: line. Case memoranda
will be submitted as email attachments to the Course Assignments
Submissions email address. Students should
consult the Assignments Calendar for due dates.
Statement of Ethics
(20% of final grade)
By
May 4, each student will submit a ten to fifteen page statement of ethical
principles that s/he will use to guide his/her professional interactions as a
school leader. In the Statement of Ethics, each student will
1.
articulate his/her personal and professional values and beliefs,
2.
place his/her values and beliefs within one of the ethical
paradigms suggested by Shapiro & Stefkovich (2001),
3.
compare and contrast his/her ethical principles with codes of
ethics from professional educational administration organizations, and
4.
reflect upon applications of his/her ethical principles to
administrative practice.
The
Statement of Ethics should be developed in conformity with the Style Manual
of the American Psychological Association (4th Ed.). The Statement of Ethics
is due May 4
Mid-Term and Final
Examinations
(15% of final grade
each)
A
mid-term examination, covering the first one-half of the course, will be given
on-site on February 27, and a final examination, covering the second one-half,
will be given on-site on May 8. Examinations will include multiple choice,
true-false, short-answer, and short essay questions. Exams will be standard
paper and pencil tests, and students will not have access to course materials,
notes, etc. during the exams.
Journal
(10% of final grade)
Journaling
is an opportunity for students to think about course content and apply its
meanings to their own previous learning, experiences, and practice. In a
journal, a student writes to him/herself as the primary audience. Anyone else
(including the instructor or teaching assistant) is a privileged reader.
Journal entries are considered to be confidential, unless the student gives
permission for journal entries to be shared.
In
this course, each student will keep a journal in which s/he chronicles his/her
thoughts, positions, analyses, and reflections. Students must make at least
two entries (at least one full page or 200 words in length) per week in their
journals. Journals may be kept either in longhand or using a computer. The
final entry in the journal will be a self-evaluation (approximately 1000 words)
of the student's learning and progress in the course. Journals will be submitted
to the instructor.. Journal entries may address these and other issues
and topics:
1.
comments on stories from Education Week
2.
comments on questions and answers in The Ethicist
3.
reflections on the on-line learning experience
4.
stories from the student's practice with an analysis
5.
analysis and commentary on course topics and readings
6.
implications of course content for the student's practice
7.
reflections on the group process
8.
ideas for additional course activities
9.
summaries of cases and their implications
10.
questions about
issues of law for further research
In
addition, there will be six elaborated journal entries in which the student
will respond to prompts provided by the instructor. Elaborated journal entries
should be approximately 1000 words in length.
Journals
in which the student has submitted the minimum number of entries will receive a
grade of B. Journals that show that the student has used the journaling
experience as a learning tool will receive a grade of A+, A, or A- at the
instructor's discretion.
Attendance and
Participation
(10% on-site, 10%
on-line)
Students
are expected to attend all classes. Active participation is integral to
learning in this class. Students are encouraged to question, debate, and
comment critically in a manner that is appropriately professional, civil, and
scholarly. A student’s participation in class will contribute to his/her
learning and to the learning of his/her classmates. On-site participation will
comprise 10% of students' grades. Consideration will be given for timely
arrival to and departure from class. Students should disengage cellular
telephones, beepers, alarms, and other distracting electronic devices while
they are in class.
Students
are expected to participate actively in on-line activities, including the
course listserv. Listserv discussions are intended to augment course readings
and activities and to give students the opportunity to explore course content
in an on-line forum. On-line participation will comprise 10% of students'
grades, which will be based on the frequency and quality of student
participation.
This
course is part of a professional preparation program for school administrators.
Students are expected to adhere to the highest standards of ethical and
professional practice. Students who have questions about the propriety of any
action should contact the instructor at their convenience.
Required
Texts/Readings/References:
McCarthy,
M., Cambron-McCabe, N., & Thomas, S. (1998). Public school law: Teachers’ and students’
rights (4th Ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Shapiro,
J.P., & Stefkovich, J.A. (2001). Ethical leadership and decision making
in education: Applying theoretical perspectives to complex dilemmas. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates.
Supplementary
Readings
Students
in ELC 687 will subscribe to Education Week for the semester. Arrangements will be
made for the class subscription during the first class. The cost will be $1.50
per week, payable when the invoice is received from Education Week.
Students
will also be reading several court cases, newspaper and Internet stories, and
other items of interest as they arise. These readings will be available at a
variety of websites. Particularly, students should read Randy Cohen's weekly
column The Ethicist, which appears on Sunday in the New York Times Magazine, available
at www.nytimes.com. Students should also
become familiar with a legal search engine, such as FindLaw (www.findlaw.com), and the organization and
research options available on the Web through a well-recognized law library,
such as at the Kathrine R.
Everett Law Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill or the Cornell Law
Library.
Topical
Outline:
Assignments Calendar
ELC 687
|
Date/Topics |
Readings Schedule (Weekly
Readings: Education Week, The Ethicist at www.nytimes.com) |
Assignments Due |
|
Legal
Frameworks |
|
|
|
Legal
Frameworks, Tort
Liability |
5.
McCarthy
et al., Ch 1, 12 6.
U.S.
Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Amendments |
|
|
|
|
Group
Case Memorandum #1: Who Was On Duty? on the Class Website |
|
Religious
Expressions, Curriculum Challenges |
1.
Shapiro
& Stefkovich, all 2.
McCarthy
et al., Ch 2, 3 3.
Joint Statement
on School Prayer |
|
|
|
|
Group
Case Memorandum #2: Vivisection: A Classroom Physiologist's Dilemma in
Shapiro & Stefkovich, Ch. 4 |
|
|
|
Group
Case Memorandum #3: AIDS and Age-Appropriate Education in Shapiro &
Stefkovich, Ch. 4 |
|
Noninstructional
Issues, Student Classifications |
·
McCarthy
et al., Ch 4, 5 ·
At
least three Statements of Ethics from Administrators' Organizations |
|
|
|
|
Group
Case Memorandum #4: The Kids Are Praying at the Flagpole Again on the Class
Website |
|
|
|
Mid-term
Exam (On-site) |
|
|
|
Group
Case Memorandum #5: When All Means All in Shapiro & Stefkovich, Ch. 7 |
|
Student
Discipline |
·
McCarthy
et al., Ch. 6 |
|
|
|
|
Group
Case Memorandum #6: A Home for Marlon: The Foster Child Case in Shapiro &
Stefkovich, Ch. 6 |
|
Teachers'
Employment Issues |
·
McCarthy
et al., Ch 7, 10 |
|
|
|
|
Group
Case Memorandum #7: The Adult Fantasy Center in Shapiro & Stefkovich, Ch.
3 |
|
Teachers'
Civil Rights |
·
McCarthy
et al., Ch. 8, 9 |
|
|
|
|
Group
Case Memorandum #8: Rising Star or Wife Beater in Shapiro & Stefkovich,
Ch. 5 |
|
|
Voluntary
Review Session |
|
|
|
|
Statement
of Ethics (Hard Copy Submission) |
|
|
|
Final
Examination (On-site) |
|
|
|
Journals
(Hard Copy Submission) |
Recommended
Text(s) and/or Readings:
Alexander,
K. & Alexander, D. M. (1992). American public school law (3rd ed.). St.
Paul, MN: West Publishing.
Beck, L.G. (1994).
Reclaiming educational administration as a caring profession. New York:
Teachers College Press.
Beck, L.G.,
& Murphy, J. (1994). Ethics in educational leadership programs: An
expanding role. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Deskbook
encyclopedia of American school law (2000). Rosemount, MN: Data Research.
Greenfield,
W.D. (1993). Articulating values and ethics in administrator preparation. In C.
Capper (Ed.), Educational administration in a pluralistic society. Albany, NY:
State University of New York Press.
Gregory, G.
(1992). Desk reference on significant US Supreme Court decisions affecting public
schools. Alexandria, VA: National School Boards Association.
Grzywacz,
P., McEllistrem, S. & Roth, J. (Eds.). (2000). Students with disabilities
and special education. Birmingham, AL: Oakstone Legal and Business Publishing.
Heubert, J.
(Ed.). (1999). Law and school
reform: Six strategies for promoting educational equity. New haven, CT: Yale
University Press.
Imber, M.
& Van Geel, T. (1993). Education law. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Irons, P.
(Ed.). (2000). May it please the court: Courts, kids, and the Constitution. New
York: The New Press.
LaMorte, M.
(1999). School law: Cases and concepts. (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Rothstein,
L. F. (2000). Special education law (3rd Ed.). White Plains, NY:
Longman.
Starratt,
R.J. (1991) Building an ethical school: A theory for practice in educational
administration. Educational Administration Quarterly, 27 (2), 185-202.
Starratt,
R.J. (1994). Building an ethcial school. London: Falmer Press.
Streshly,
W. A. & Frase, L. (1992). Avoiding legal hassles - What school administrators
really need to know. Newbury Park, CA: Corwin Press.
Strike,
K.A., Haller, E.J., & Soltis, J.F. (1998). The ethics of school
administration (2nd ed.). New York: Teachers College Press.
Zirkel, P.
A. & Richardson, S. N. (1988). A digest of Supreme Court decisions
affecting education. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.
U.S. Supreme Court Cases
Regarding Education
School
Prayer
Engel v.
Vitale (1962)
School
District of Abington Township v Schemp (1963)
Wallace
v. Jaffree (1985)
Lee v.
Weisman (1992)
Students’
Rights
West
Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)
Tinker
v. Des Moines School District (1969)
Goss v.
Lopez (1975)
Ingraham
v. Wright (1977)
New
Jersey v. TLO (1985)
Bethel
School District v. Fraser (1986)
Hazelwood
School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988)
Honig v.
Doe (1988)
Board of
Education, Westside Schools v. Mergens (1990)
Franklin
v. Gwinnett (1992)
Vernonio
School District v. Acton (1995)
Davis v.
Monroe County Board of Education (1999)
Students’
Equal Opportunity
Brown v.
Board of Education (1954)
San
Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez (1973)
Lau v.
Nichols (1974)
Plyler
v. Doe (1982)
Board of
Edu[1]rcation
of Hendrik Hudson School District v. Rowley (1982)
Tatro v.
State of Texas (1984)
Aguilar
v. Felton (1985)
School
Committee of Burlington v. Massachusetts (1985)
Zobrest
v. Catalina Foothills School District (1993)
Florence
County Board of Education v. Carter, 510 U.S. 7 (1993)
Cedar
Rapids Community School District v. Garret F. (1999)
Curriculum
Challenges
Epperson
v. Arkansas (1968)
Island
Trees School District v. Pico (1982)
Edwards
v. Aguilar (1987)
Teachers’
Rights
Cleveland
Board of Education v. LaFleur (1974)
Equity
and Desegregation Cases and Legislation
|
Date |
Case |
|
1896 |
Plessy
v. Ferguson |
|
1954 |
Brown
v. Board of Education |
|
1955 |
Brown
v. Board of Education II |
|
1958 |
Cooper
v. Aaron |
|
1963 |
Goss
v. Board of Education |
|
1964 |
Griffin
v. Prince Edward Co. |
|
1964 |
Title
VI, Civil Rights Act of 1964 |
|
1965 |
Rogers
v. Paul |
|
1968 |
Green
v. New Kent County |
|
1969 |
Alexander
v. Holmes County |
|
1971 |
Swann
v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg |
|
1973 |
Keyes
v. School District No. 1, Denver |
|
1973 |
San
Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez |
|
1973 |
Section
504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 |
|
1974 |
Equal
Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 |
|
1974 |
Milliken
v. Bradley I |
|
1974 |
Lau v.
Nichols |
|
1975 |
Education
of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 |
|
1976 |
Pasadena
City Board of Education v. Spangler |
|
1977 |
Milliken
v. Bradley II |
|
1982 |
Plyler
v. Doe |
|
1982 |
Hendrik
Hudson Board of Education v. Rowley |
|
1984 |
Irving
Independent School District v. Tatro |
|
|
|
|
1991 |
Board
of Education v. Dowell |
|
1992 |
Freeman
v. Pitts |
|
1994 |
Proposition
187 |
|
1995 |
Missouri
v. Jenkins |
|
1996 |
Personal
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act ("Welfare
Reform") |
|
1997 |
League
of United Latin American
Citizens v. Wilson II |
|
1997 |
Individuals
With Disabilities Education Act of 1990 and Amendments of 1997 |
|
1999 |
Cedar
Rapids Community School District v. Garret F. |
ELC 687: Legal and Ethical
Dimensions of Leadership
Spring 2001
Grading Rubric
|
Student: |
Section:
Tuesday or Wednesday |
|
|
Case
Group #: |
Case #1 |
|
|
Check
cases in which student served as group |
Case #2 |
|
|
leader. |
Case #3 |
|
|
|
Case #4 |
|
|
Notes: |
Case #5 |
|
|
|
Case #6 |
|
|
|
Case #7 |
|
|
|
Case #8 |
|
|
|
Mid-term |
|
|
|
Ethics
Statement |
|
|
|
Final |
|
|
|
Journal |
|
|
|
On-site
Participation |
|
|
|
On-line
Participation |
|
|
|
Final
Grade |
|
Group Case Memoranda
|
Grade |
Criteria |
|
A |
7.
Provides
an analysis of the legal and ethical dimensions of the case 8.
Provides
a well-reasoned course of action 9.
Provides
a sound justification for the course of action 10. Shows evidence of involvement of
all group members |
|
B |
4.
Reports
on the legal and ethical dimensions of the case 5.
Provides
an appropriate course of action 6.
Justifies
the course of action 7.
Shows
evidence of group involvement |
|
Resubmit |
Items
that must be addressed: ·
Length · |