The Worrisome State of Legal Literacy among Teachers and Administrators
Globally, societies are becoming more litigious. As one consequence, educators are developing an increased sensitivity to the legal context that shapes their professional work. While this trend is being led by the United States, its effects are felt in Canada and elsewhere. Accordingly, there has been an observed increase in the fear of litigation amongst educators, which, in turn, impacts their educational practices. This paper argues, however, that this fear is borne more of a lack of legal knowledge amongst educators than it is of the actual prospects of being involved in a lawsuit. It also suggests possible means by which this lack can be overcome which would also serve as a corrective to educators’ misplaced fears.
School Administrators' Legal Knowledge: Information Sources and Perceived Needs.
To explore why school administrators have only a limit d base of knowledge of the laws and cases affecting education, the Informational Resource Questionnaire (IRQ) was designed to study attitudes about legal knowledge. The IRQ focuses on school demographics, which resources administrators most commonly use to obtain both general and legal information, and administrator opinions about how well-versed a particular group should be in school law. From a random sample of 75 school superintendents (Ss), 75 secondary school principals (SPs), and 75 elementary school principals (EPs) in the Massachusetts Public Schools, 142 questionnaires were returned from 59 Ss, 40 SPs, and 43 EPs. Four major findings were: (1) newspapers are often read by scnuol administrators; (2) administr,tors rely on one another for information; (3) professional organizations at the state level are a more frequent source than are national organizations; and (4) Ss use a wider variety of resources to a greater extent than do principals. The school lawyer was identified as a key person in providing legal knowledge. Pressing issues were teacher evaluation, liability, and special education. Administrators almost unanimously expressed a need for school officials to nave some knowledge of education law. The knowledge void existing among administrators is not due to attitudinal indifference. Ten data tables are provided. The IRQ, the cover letter mailed to the study sample, and the followup letter to nonrespondents are appended. (SLD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. **U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of I'ducationat Research and Improvement EDUCATIONA, RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) GlkIris document has been reproduced as received from the person or oroanizafion onspnaring Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality Pc.ntS of view or opintons stated in MS dOCu ment do not necessarily represent official OE RI position or policy "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMAT'ON CENTER (ERIC)" SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS' LEGAL KNOWLEDGE: INFORMATION SOURCES AND PERCEIVED NEEDS Susan J. Hillman, Ph.D. Education Department, North Adams State College Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association's Annual Meeting, New Orleans, April 1988. 2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE
Public School Administrators Knowledge of Recent Supreme Court Decisions Affecting School Practice
ABSTRACT Public secondary school administrators should deduce from the 1985 "New Jersey v. T.L.O." Supreme Court decision that searching students does not violate the Constitutional prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures when there are reasonable grounds for suspicion. The "Wallace v. Jaffree" case, decided in the same year, implies that "moment of silence" policies do not violate the "establishment" clause of the Constitution so long as such policies support secular objectives and so long as other activities are specified if prayer is specified. In December 1985, questionnaires were sent to 139 administrators in central New York to assess their knowledge of these decisions and to identify their sources of legal information. Eighty-eight percent responded. In addition, selected print media were analyzed to examine how accurately popular and professional media reported these decisions and their implications for practice. According to the questionnaire results, more than 25 percent of the respondents did not know that evidence of misbehavior is required before searching a student; 20 to 25 percent had difficulty in applying legal procedures to actual situations; 52 percent reported that they had little or no information about the constitutionality of moment of silence policies; 21 percent thought that all moment of silence policies were unconstitutional; 29 percent were uncertain concerning their constitutionality; and the main sources of information were professional newletters and journals. The analysis of the sources revealed that the sources were generally both accurate and comprehensive, which suggests that the sources were not responsible for the administrators' misinformation. Included are 11 references and 6 tables (RG)