1. Brief
Description of the Assessment
Candidate
will research a specific area of public school law (e.g., student speech, tort,
desegregation) and produced a term paper that included the historical background
of the law, a discussion the current legal interpretation of the law (e.g.,
case law) and how knowledge of the law informs fair, ethical and legal practice
as an educational leader as specifically described in NELP Elements 2.1, 2.2,
2.3 and 6.3
2.
How the Research Paper Aligns with Standards
Assessment 8 is aligned to the three elements of
NELP Standard 2 and NELP Standard 6.3. Specifically, candidates discussed how their
chosen area of the law helps school leaders understand and demonstrate the
capacity to reflect on, communicate about, cultivate, and model professional
dispositions and norms (i.e., fairness, integrity, transparency, trust, digital
citizenship, collaboration, perseverance, reflection, lifelong learning) that
support the educational success and well-being of each student and adult (NELP 2.1), to understand and demonstrate the capacity to evaluate,
communicate about, and advocate for ethical and legal decisions (NELP 2.2). Candidates understand and demonstrate the
capacity to model ethical behavior in their personal conduct and relationships
to cultivate ethical behavior in others
(NELP 2.3) and understand and demonstrate the capacity to reflectively
evaluate, communicate about, and implement laws, rights, policies, and regulations
to promote student and adult success and well-being (NELP 6.3).
School Law
Research Paper Directions
Each candidate will write a
school law research paper examining a specific area of the law as it pertains
to the administration of public schools. Papers are to be written using Publications Manual of the APA, 7th
Ed. as the authority for style and documentation. To assist students, a one
page summary providing commonly used citation forms for legal papers in APA is
available on Blackboard. Papers are to be at least ten and no more than 12
pages (not including title page or reference section) in length. Papers will
consist of four sections: an introduction, discussion of relevant statutory and
case law, application of legal principles to school administration in light of
applicable NELP Elements and Oklahoma Administrator Competencies listed on page
2 of the syllabus, and a conclusions section. For this assignment, each student
will need to do the following:
1.
Identify
a major area of the law (e.g., free speech, establishment clause, torts) about
which to write.
2.
Narrow
your topic. For example, search and seizure could be narrowed based on
information sources, objects of the search, or search method.
3.
Locate
applicable statutory and case law.
4.
Read
and analyze all materials from step three.
5.
Begin
writing. Be sure to discuss applications of legal principals to the NELP
Standards a reflected in the rubric.
