(1997). Dictionary of Multicultural Education. The focus of this dictionary is the meanings and perspectives of various terms that are used in multicultural education. Contributors have often addressed the literal meanings of words and terms as well as contextual meanings and examples that helped create those meanings. Like other dictionaries, this one is arranged alphabetically, but it goes beyond ordinary dictionaries in the depth of its concern with multicultural education and diversity. Some entries define commonly used terms. Others are court cases and legal precedents, while still others are methodological and theoretical-conceptual entries. Biographical sketches are not included, since a dictionary of this scope and size could not do justice to the many people who have contributed to multicultural education. Nor are terms that describe groups of people included, although the intellectual traditions that have emerged from the struggles of these people have been defined. Standardization of the vocabulary of multicultural…
(1994). Employing and Accommodating Workers with Psychiatric Disabilities. Implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act Series. This brief paper summarizes requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 related to employing and accommodating workers with psychiatric disabilities. The following topics are addressed: (1) what is meant by a psychiatric disability under the ADA, its severity, and its effect on the employment of the individual; (2) popular misconceptions about people with psychiatric disabilities, including: such disabilities are uncommon; mental illness is the same as mental retardation; likely to be violent; there is no hope of recovery; and people with psychiatric disabilities can't tolerate job stress; (3) legal limitations on determining if a worker has a psychiatric disability; (4) how psychiatric disabilities may affect an individual's work performance; and (5) examples of accommodations for workers with psychiatric disabilities (such as clearly delineated performance expectations and schedules that incorporate flex-time). A listing of 12 sources of additional… [PDF]
(1994). The ADA and Total Quality Management. Implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act. One of a series of guides on implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), this guide focuses on the relevance of total quality management (TQM) principles to the ADA. First, the guide briefly explains both the ADA and TQM. Next, "reasonable accommodation" under the ADA is discussed and suggestions for using TQM to help implement the ADA are offered. These suggestions urge implementation of four TQM principles: capacity building, universal design, focus on strengths rather than deficits, and use of data for decision making. The planning process of TQM is then applied to reasonable accommodation in the form of the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. Suggestions for educating personnel about the ADA include adding it to existing TQM training efforts. Several organizational resources are listed. (DB)… [PDF]
(1997). Landlords' and Tenants' Responsibilities and Rights. Tierra de Oportunidad Module 10. LAES: Latino Adult Education Services Project. This module, which may be used as the basis for a workshop or as a special topic unit in adult basic education or English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) courses, discusses rights and responsibilities as tenants, the rights and duties of landlords, and how to maintain a good working relationship with a landlord. Topics covered include the following: requesting repairs, writing letters requesting repairs and notifying a landlord of a move, asking information from legal assistance, filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development), negotiating within the rules, analyzing legal rights and responsibilities, and locating mediation services. Basic skills covered include using oral and written communication, thinking skills, personal qualities, using resources, interpersonal skills, using information, and working with systems. The module contains the following: teaching points for the instructor; sample classroom activities; a list of 10 resources; a sample lesson… [PDF]
(2000). Equality v. Liberty v. Pluralism: Latinos in American Constitutional Law. This paper examines how U.S. courts, particularly the Supreme Court, have applied constitutional law principles to Latino communities and individuals in three areas: public education, the status of Puerto Rico, and jury selection. Consistent with traditional views of American society as biracial (black and white), constitutional law discussions frequently focus only on liberty or equality. This paper shows examples of how courts have resisted constitutional challenges based on pluralism or have favored principles of equality over those of pluralism, and how resulting decisions have not protected Latino rights. Over the past century, Latinos have sought equal educational opportunities through desegregation, bilingual education, and challenges to school funding schemes. Efforts to improve educational conditions initially focused on breaking down segregation based on notions of equality, as Latino precursors to Brown v. Board of Education exemplify. In the Southwest, Mexican Americans… [PDF]
(1999). Burma: The Struggle for Democracy and Freedom. A Resource Guide for Teachers. This resource guide for teachers contains readings, investigative sources, and first-hand accounts of the actions of the present military regime in Burma, a regime which retained power even after it lost the 1990 national elections, and which sponsors repression of pro-democracy forces in the country. The first section, an introduction, includes articles pertaining to the background of the conflict in Burma between the National League of Democracy (NLD) and the Burmese government, as well as a historical overview of Burma. The guide is divided into the following sections: (1) "Aung San Suu Kyi (Biography, Speeches, and Writings)"; (2) "8-8-88"; (3) "Human Rights Violations"; (4) "Child Abuse"; (5) "Harsh Prison Conditions"; (6) "Women's Rights Violations"; (7) "Education in Burma"; (8) "Environmental Destruction"; (9) "Drugs in Burma"; (10) "Refugees from Burma"; (11) "Personal…
(2000). Passport to the Front of the Bus: The Impact of Fisk University's International Program on Segregation in Nashville, Tennessee. In the 1950's, Charles S. Johnson, the first black president of Fisk University (Tennessee), greatly expanded the institution's international program, attracting many foreign students to the school and creating a milieu that gave American blacks the benefits of integration. This paper examines how the presence of outsiders and outside influences made the segregationist status quo arrangements of the South impractical, absurd, and essentially unenforceable. The international center drew upon cultural, political, and artistic resources from around the world, and programs were open to all Fisk students and the local citizens of Nashville. By encouraging students to think in a global manner, the program attempted to end students' isolation from world ideas; exposure to outside influences fed the changing mindset of Fisk students and accustomed them to an integrated life style and encouraged them to challenge the norms of the local community. The boundary-pushing international program…
(2000). Special Education and the Juvenile Justice System. Juvenile Justice Bulletin. This bulletin summarizes provisions of federal law as they pertain to special education and juvenile justice. It discusses provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 1997 including: the definition of disability; free appropriate public education; identification, referral, and evaluation; the individualized education program (IEP); special education and related services, due process protections, and the "stay put" rule (that a student should usually stay in his/her current educational placement pending any court proceedings). The bulletin goes on to discuss special education in juvenile delinquency cases specifically, including intake and initial interviews; determination of whether formal juvenile proceedings should go forward; detention; waiver or transfer to adult criminal court; evidentiary issues (insanity, incompetence, intent to commit the offense, and confessions); and disposition. The final section considers youth with disabilities in… [PDF]
(2001). Brief 9: Practices and Policies for Dealing with Students with Mental Health Issues. New England Resource Center for Higher Education Publications. Paper 33. New England Resource Center for Higher Education One of higher education's crowning achievements is that colleges and universities are currently educating many groups of people who have been denied access to this resource in the past. A growing percentage of the new population of students arrives on campus with unique mental health needs, which until now campuses have been largely unprepared to accommodate. This new student profile may be more familiar to Student Affairs' offices, but the educational implications extend to the whole campus. Members of NERCHE's (New England Resource Center for Higher Education) Student Affairs Think Tank discussed this topic at one of their meetings and offer the following insights…. [PDF]
(1983). Race: The Ignored Dimensions of the Colonial Analogy as Applied to Powerlessness and Exploitation in Appalachia. Western Journal of Black Studies, v7 n1 p10-20 Spr. Examines the social conditions of Blacks in Southern Appalachia, within the context of the region's developing political economy. Suggests that racial equality has not been pursued beyond the need for cooperation between the races, because of reluctance to disturb the preestablished order of Southern life and values. (Author/MJL)…
(1983). Application of Competency Testing Mandates to Handicapped Children. Harvard Educational Review, v53 n2 p146-64 May. The author considers the legality of minimum competency testing diploma requirements applied to the handicapped in light of (1) their constitutional and statutory rights to nondiscriminatory treatment, (2) their statutory right to an appropriate education, and (3) their constitutional right to substantive and procedural due process. (Author/SSH)…
(1981). Reflection on the Seventies. Journal of College and University Law, v8 n4 p451-61 1981-82. A former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare reviews the social influences that helped shape the federal relationships with higher education in the 1970s, including student aid programs, the developing institutions program, and enforcing antidiscrimination legislation. The search for flexible but useful measures to effect social change through education is highlighted. (MSE)…
(1982). Legal Update–The Fifth Circuit and Bilingual Education. Texas Tech Journal of Education, v9 n2 p133-39 Spr. Recent court decisions are reviewed to clarify what schools must do to help non-English-speaking children. Court decisions indicate that: (1) educational programs must be theoretically and practically effective; (2) labeling and grouping procedures must not intentionally discriminate; and (3) teachers must be adequately trained. (PP)…
(1981). Academic Misconduct: The Due Process Rights of Students. NASPA Journal, v19 n2 p12-16 Fall. Clarifies the legal rights of students accused of cheating or plagiarism. Suggests a procedure which addresses those student rights while preserving faculty ability to grade students only on their own work. Discusses due process requirements and issues related to punishment and academic freedom. (RC)…
(1981). The Role of Freedmen in the Post Bellum Cotton Economy. Phylon, v42 n4 p309-21 Dec. Following the removal of the Freedman's Bureau and failure of labor recruitment efforts targeted to Chinese and European immigrants, the practices of sharecropping, tenant farming, and the hiring of convict labor replaced slave labor in the South's postbellum agricultural economy. Lack of minimal economic power among freed Blacks resulted in slave labor conditions. (JCD)…