(2010). Teacher Free Speech and Expression in a Digital Age: A Legal Analysis. NASSP Bulletin, v94 n3 p213-226 Sep. In this technological age, the definition of private, public, and protected speech and expression for today's school employees is largely misunderstood and unclear. This article addresses the current legal standards as well as some recent case law involving teacher speech and expression and its major implications for addressing teacher online speech. Finally, this article recommends some best practices for school leaders detailing the appropriate regulation of teacher online speech in the face of these multiple pressures. (Contains 1 figure.)… [Direct]
(2009). Student Worker Free Speech on the Public Campus: A New Twist to a Constant Issue. College Student Affairs Journal, v28 n1 p5-21. Rather than anticipating an issue or proactively addressing it, college and university administrators often find themselves in the position of reacting to recent laws or court decisions. This paper examines an issue ripe for proactive thought; an issue not yet directly considered in court cases: free speech and the student employee. In the development of First Amendment free speech jurisprudence on public college campuses, which cases and legal theories apply depends on whether the person claiming free speech violations is an employee or a student. A question not yet answered by the United States Supreme Court as it relates to the public higher education setting is: what if the person is both? Further, which standards apply and what are the differences in those standards? Although arguably addressed in the K-12 setting and in the private sector, but yet somewhat hypothetical for public colleges and universities, as student activism and campus student employment increases, the… [Direct]
(2019). The "F-Word" of Social and Emotional Learning: Faith. American Enterprise Institute While Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) has many different definitions, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) defines it as "the process through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions." For millennia, this has been the ethos of religious doctrine, which inspired the creation of schools as a means to instill such values in children who would grow up and govern the world. Yet, schools are missing a golden opportunity to leverage this asset of faith to improve outcomes for kids, particularly in the much-discussed area of SEL. There is perhaps no place in education where the impact of religious faith is more evident than in social and emotional development. And that is because, for millions of Americans, faith powers it. But nobody would know this from looking at the SEL landscape…. [PDF]
(2008). Free Speech in a MySpace World. Library Media Connection, v26 n5 p22-24 Feb. In the potential shadow of a \Bong Hits for Jesus\ banner, complicated student speech and discipline issues arise almost daily on the Internet. Whether it is a mock MySpace page set up to make fun of a teacher or a direct threat to an assistant principal, it is often unclear exactly where school ground discipline ends and student free speech rights begin. Ever since \Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District\ (393 U.S. 503) was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1969–with its seminal holding that students do not leave their constitutional rights at the \school house gate\–administrators, teachers, parents, and students have continued to explore the scope of student free speech rights on school grounds and at school events. The Internet and advances in technology have dramatically changed the variables of student speech issues. In this article, the authors argue that in making decisions about student speech via the Internet, it is important to ensure that the… [Direct]
(2009). Social Networking Sites and the Free Speech Rights of School Employees. School Business Affairs, v75 n4 p38-41 Apr. In the midst of growing controversy over the limits of student expression on the Internet, a federal trial court in Pennsylvania addressed the extent to which education officials can restrict the ability of student teachers and, by extension, teachers and other school employees, to exercise their rights to free speech on Internet social networking sites. In "Snyder v. Millersville University" (2008), the court upheld the authority of university officials who, acting in response to requests from educators in a local school district, terminated the assignment of a student teacher. Officials agreed to end the plaintiff's placement because, in addition to concerns about her subject-area knowledge, she violated university directives that she received during her student teacher orientation by posting an inappropriate remark about her cooperating teacher on her personal MySpace page that was accessed by her students. Based on the legal issues that "Snyder" presents for… [PDF] [Direct]
(2017). Factors to Consider When Balancing Campus Safety Concerns with Students' Civil Rights. ProQuest LLC, D.Mgt. Dissertation, University of Maryland University College. On April 16, 2007, a student at Virginia Tech University, known to be mentally ill, went on a rampage shooting 49 people on campus before taking his own life. When it was over, 32 people were dead, and the concept of a safe campus was forever changed. The incident revealed the inherent conflicts between campus safety concerns and students' civil rights, an issue campus across the nation have grappled with over the past 10 years. Public colleges, which are legally viewed as quasi-governmental entities, must satisfy the civil rights compliance requirements that apply to governmental entities. Community colleges have the additional challenge of maintaining a reasonably safe campus while preserving the mission of "open access." Efforts to balance campus safety concerns with students' civil rights have been unsuccessful and have caused confusion, chaos, and litigation. This dissertation is a critical interpretive synthesis of scholarly, legal, and grey literature research that… [Direct]
(2021). College President Responses to Student Activism on Campus. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Michigan. This dissertation explores presidents' perceptions and the various contexts and experiences that shape their responses to student activism. As a public symbol of the university to students, staff, and faculty as well as the surrounding community, college presidents have a unique role in addressing or (re)acting in response to student movements. However, prior research in student movements does not include the leadership perspective, and most literature operates on the assumption that presidents are an overarching oppositional force. This exclusion may be a result of lack of access to college presidents in higher education research; however, the result has been a conspicuous lack of research and understanding of the ways in which college presidents perceive student activism and choose to respond to student demands made of them. To address this oversight in student movement literature, this dissertation uses interview data from college presidents to determine and analyze their… [Direct]
(2012). Racism, Union Busting, or Just Plain Cultural Conflict?. Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, v15 n2 p112-121 Jun. This case describes the struggle of a small school employee association located in a right-to-work state as it attempts to continue exercising influence after a political turmoil caused the composition of the school board to change. This case presents many elements that foster discussion of basic employee rights such as freedom of association, free speech, and due process. As such, this case is designed for usage in educational leadership programs and is particularly pertinent to provoke discussions regarding school politics, employee association authority, preferences in hiring practices, and employee dismissal procedures. Students of educational leadership enrolled in school law, human resources, and/or multicultural education courses can engage in discussion of multiple aspects of course content…. [Direct]
(2013). Navigating Social Networks. Educational Leadership, v70 n6 p44-47 Mar. The authors note that when it comes to balancing free speech and schools' responsibilities, the online world is largely uncharted waters. Questions remain about the rights of both students and teachers in the world of social media. Although the lower courts have ruled that students' freedom of speech rights offer them some protection for comments made on social media when they are outside of school, the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to accept any cases dealing with this issue. In the meantime, teachers appear to be held to a higher standard, and they should be aware that comments they make on social networking sites may make them vulnerable to charges of unprofessional conduct. Until the Supreme Courts decides these matters, educators should think of their social networking identity as an extension of who they are in the classroom, and to navigate with care as they venture into this new world. (Contains 8 cases cited.)… [Direct]
(2016). Speech and Debate as Civic Education. Communication Education, v65 n4 p377-381. In light of the U.S. Senate's designation of March 15, 2016 as "National Speech and Debate Education Day" (S. Res. 398, 2016), it only seems fitting that "Communication Education" devote a special section to the role of speech and debate in civic education. Speech and debate have been at the heart of the communication discipline in the U.S. since a group of speech professors broke free from English departments to form the National Association of Academic Teachers of Public Speaking in 1914 (Gehrke & Keith 2014). Long before that, a rhetorical tradition dating back to the ancients emphasized training in speech and debate as essential to education for citizenship in a democracy. Therefore, leading scholars, teachers, coaches, and program administrators in speech and debate were invited to a conference presented by the Center for Democratic Deliberation, with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Communication Association, to… [Direct]
(2011). Fundamentalist Demonstrations on the Liberal Arts Campus: Observations and Recommendations. Journal of College Student Development, v52 n5 p598-609 Sep-Oct. This article explores the impact on students when non-university-affiliated conservative fundamentalist Christian groups conduct provocative demonstrations on campus. As university administrators work to balance free speech rights with missions of civility and pluralism, there is a need to assess and address potential adverse impacts of these sensational events. Based on a survey of 97 public university students after a controversial demonstration, we found the most adverse impact to be on students' emotions, followed by disruption to their routines, changes to their feelings of safety, and minor consequences on academic activities. Those closer in proximity to the demonstration reported more adverse effects, and there were small differences in effects as a function of student gender, sexual orientation, and Christian identity. Counter to the ostensibly conservative aims of the demonstration, students typically reported it had little affect on their attitudes or that the… [Direct]
(2013). Islamist Movement Challenges Universities. Chronicle of Higher Education, Apr. In Tunisian and Egyptian universities, scholars face a growing Islamist resolve to remake their countries on the basis of religious principles. Both Tunisia and Egypt face questions that could affect higher education across the Middle East and North Africa: Can their new Islamist governments spread conservative religious values and also create vibrant, modern universities? Will they respect or restrict academic freedom? And will the legacy of the Arab Spring be a revitalized academe or a stifled one? Tunisian and Egyptian universities have arrived at similar crossroads by different paths. Tunisia is a small, Francophone country with a modern history of strong secularism; Egypt is the most populous Arab country and the birthplace of political Islam. In Tunisia, Islam was kept outside the university for decades, while, in Egypt, Islamist groups and preachers, many of whom espouse a conservative interpretation of Islam that limits free speech and the rights of minorities and women, have… [Direct]
(2012). Speech Cases Turned Aside by High Court. Education Week, v31 n18 p1, 22 Jan. The U.S. Supreme Court declined without comment to take up two major appeals involving student free-speech rights on the Internet. One appeal encompassed two cases decided in favor of students last June by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, in Philadelphia. The other appeal stemmed from a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, in Richmond, Virginia, upholding a West Virginia school district's discipline of a student over Internet bullying of a another student. The high court's refusal to take up appeals involving school discipline of student speech on the Internet leaves the state of the law unclear for school leaders, parents, and students themselves. Administrators still seek guidance despite the Supreme Court's denial of the cases…. [Direct]
(2014). Input or Intimacy. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, v4 n3 p485-506. According to the critical period hypothesis, the earlier the acquisition of a second language starts, the better. Owing to the plasticity of the brain, up until a certain age a second language can be acquired successfully according to this view. Early second language learners are commonly said to have an advantage over later ones especially in phonetic/phonological acquisition. Native-like pronunciation is said to be most likely to be achieved by young learners. However, there is evidence of accent-free speech in second languages learnt after puberty as well. Occasionally, on the other hand, a nonnative accent may appear even in early second (or third) language acquisition. Cross-linguistic influences are natural in multilingual development, and we would expect the dominant language to have an impact on the weaker one(s). The dominant language is usually the one that provides the largest amount of input for the child. But is it always the amount that counts? Perhaps sometimes other… [PDF]
(2014). "Records of Rights": A New Exhibit at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Social Education, v78 n1 p25-28 Jan-Feb. America's founding documents–the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights–are icons of human liberty. But the ideals enshrined in those documents did not initially apply to all Americans. They were, in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., "a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir." "Records of Rights," a new permanent exhibition at the National Archives in Washington, D.C, allows visitors to explore how generations of Americans discussed and debated how to fulfill this promise of freedom. "Records of Rights" showcases original and facsimile National Archives documents and uses an innovative interactive experience to illustrate Americans' struggles to define rights related to citizenship, free speech, voting, and equal opportunity. "Records of Rights" opened on December 11, 2013, in the David M. Rubenstein Gallery at the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. In this article,… [Direct]