Education Law
July 14th, 2009 at 10:09am
Under Education Law
Recently, there has been an impetus to place for-profit performance-markers in the not-for-profit education sector. While everyone agrees that public money should only be spent on programs, initiatives, and teachers that produce results, finding an accurate and realistic means for measuring pedagogy has proved difficult.
The difficulty in finding a middle ground hasn’t stopped the NCLB commission—led by Roy E. Barnes and Tommy Thompson—from suggesting that teachers and principals should be judged by their students’ test scores. In addition, the NCLB commission suggested that the performance of specific students be tracked from year to year. In response to the aggressive means that the NCLB commission is seeking to place on higher education, Edward J. McElroy—president of the American Federation of Teachers—stated that: “there is no reliable assessment systems(s) to tie student achievement to teacher performance.”1
Meanwhile in New York State, Eliot Spitzer and Manuel Rivera have carved out an additional $7 billion a year—which will boost the total yearly spend to $24.8 billion by 2010—for “performance based” school funding. In an effort to do away with the antiquated funding that New York State currently employs, each of the State’s school districts are obligated to sign a “contract of excellence” in order to secure funding. The push towards a measurably pedagogic system provides the education system with more funding, while making superintendents, administrators, and teachers accountable.
In contrast to the tact that the NCLB commission has taken, Spitzer’s approach to policy change and implementation has been more collaborative in nature: especially when compared with former Governor Pataki.
Commissioner of Education Richard P. Mills noted that Gov Spitzer delivered his speech in the education department building, included regents on his transition team, and invited board members to
help lead the charge for his agenda…. “He’s offering a partnership. It’s not always been like this,” Mr Mills said. “He’s giving us strong leadership. This is how it’s done.” 2
On a more global scale, the push towards performance-based education has been promoted as a means for maintaining the competitive work force, and the quality of life of the United States Of America. On December 14, 2006 the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce panel recommended that schools be operated by independent contractors, as well as giving states funding power, rather than local school districts. This panel is composed of New York City schools chancellor, Joel I. Klein; two former labor secretaries, William E. Brock, a Republican, and Ray Marshall, a Democrat; two former federal education secretaries, Rod Paige, a Republican, and Richard W. Riley, a Democrat and others. The panel’s recommendation comes in the wake of many claims that the American workforce is becoming less competitive. The AFT executive vice president, Antonia Cortese, noted that the proposals had ‘’some seriously flawed ideas with faddish allure that won’t produce better academic results .”3
Regardless of how we feel about performance based education initiatives, it is worth noting that the topic has garnered the attention of heavy-weight public figures from across the country. It is also worth noting that we’ve seen more performance-based education initiatives implemented in the past few years than in the previous decade. It remains to be seen how the country as a whole will move towards performance based education funding as a standard, rather than an idea.
-Sources
Jean Shecmo, Diana, “Tougher Standards Urged for Federal Education Law”, The New York Times, February 14, 2007
McNeil, Michelle, “Reform Agenda” in New York, Education Week, February 7, 2007
Herszenhorn, David M., Expert Panel Proposes Far-Reaching Redesign of the American Education System, The New York Times, December 15th 2006K
Recently, there has been an impetus to place for-profit performance-markers in the not-for-profit education sector. While everyone agrees that public money should only be spent on programs, initiatives, and teachers that produce results, finding an accurate and realistic means for measuring pedagogy has proved difficult.
Patrick Sutton is the Marketing Director for Innovation Ads, Inc., a company that helps colleges and universities to increase applications and enrollments by leveraging proprietary and affiliate internet portals, and the second largest DRTV media buying capacities in the US.
By Law Article
July 13th, 2009 at 10:09pm
Under Education Law
Remember Bruce Willis, the main protagonist in the fourth installment of the Die Hard series last summer?Live Free or Die Hard depicts Willis as the New York police department detective John McClane who is commissioned to capture a gang of ‘cyber terrorists’ intent on shutting down the entire world’s internet. In today ’sincreasingly volatile world of mobile activated bombs and websites of various militant groups, it is not hard to imagine the Die Hard scenario materializing in real life as well.
One of the most fascinating aspects of modern technology is how it has penetrated every scope and strata of society. Everyone from the uneducated mechanic to the high-profile chief executive officer of a firm now carries a mobile and is aware of what a computer is. This infiltration of technology in our communities has, by and large, proved to be beneficial. But like every other good thing, technology too can be exploited. This exploitation, among other things, has resulted in certain crimes being committed through or against computers, their affiliated networks and the information contained within them. Thus, came about the neologism of cyber crime.
Even though the term is now widely used in law circles, disagreements are aplenty regarding what actually entails cyber crime. President of Naavi.org, India’s largest cyber law information portal suggests that the term is a misnomer. “The concept of cyber crime is not radically different from that of conventional crime,” says in a report on the portal, “Both include conduct whether act or omission, which cause breach of rules of law and [are] counterbalanced by the sanction of the state. Cyber crime may be said to be [one of] those species, of which, the genus is conventional crime, and where either the computer is an object or subject of the conduct constituting crime,”
However, despite the similar legal nature of both conventional and cyber crime, they are substantially different in practice. Cyber crimes are far easier to learn how to commit, require fewer resources relative to the potential damage caused, can be committed in a jurisdiction without being physically present in, and until recently, their status of illegality has been, at best, vague. As the global technology policy and management consulting firm McConnell Institute notes in a comprehensive report on the subject, many countries’ existing archaic laws threaten the global information dynamic
“The growing danger from crimes committed against computers, or against information on computers, is beginning to claim attention in national capitals. In most countries around the world, however, existing laws are likely to be unenforceable against such crimes”.
The report added, “Existing terrestrial laws against physical acts of trespass or breaking and entering often do not cover their ‘virtual’ counterparts. New kinds of crimes can fall between the cracks.”
Furthermore, efficient law enforcement is further complicated by the transnational nature of cyberspace.
“Mechanisms of cooperation across national borders are complex and slow. Cyber criminals can defy the conventional jurisdictional realms of sovereign nations, originating an attack from almost any computer in the world, passing it across multiple national boundaries, or designing attacks that appear to be originating from foreign sources. Such techniques dramatically increase both the technical and legal complexities of investigating and prosecuting cyber crimes.”
To protect themselves from those who would steal, deny access to, or destroy valuable information, public and private institutions have increasingly relied on security technology. But in today’s rapid world of e-commerce, self protection, however essential, alone cannot make up for a lack of legal protection. Many countries, therefore, now have separate legislation against such activities.
The bill covers two basic types of cyber crimes. One in which computers themselves are targets (such as criminal data access, data damage, malicious code, and various other kinds of information theft on computer networks), while the other in which computer and other technology are used as a tool to commit virtual versions of various conventional crimes (such as cyber terrorism, electronic fraud and forgery, cyber stalking and spamming, etc).
For the average internet surfer, unaware of the technical definitions of most of these offences, the law may appear quite confusing at the first glance. It shall come as no surprise, therefore, that disagreements regarding the ordinance’s interpretation persist even in the broader legal fraternity. In particular, it has come under fire from civil rights groups and a section of lawyers who denounce it as “effectively and practically [...] useless against cyber crimes” but nevertheless creating “enormous obstructions and nuisances for IT enabled [...] businesses and individuals” as well as considerably sacrificing individual liberties such as that of privacy.
Mark Tamale (former member of the information technology law forum and the ministry of science and technology) who has been at the forefront of the awareness campaign, ‘Take a bite out of the cyber crimes law’ has criticised this and other sections of the ordinance as being too ambiguous. He implies that the law could, as a consequence, render even something as innocuous as googling ‘how to make an atomic bomb’ a ‘terrorist act.’ Surely however, the ‘knowingly engages in’ portion of the statue as well as the subsequent definition of
‘terrorist-ic intent’ should make this a highly unlikely possibility.
A more pressing concern however, at least for the average citizen would be of privacy. Sections of the law pertaining to corporate responsibility require all internet service providers to store up to 90 days of data regarding consumers’ internet usage. Service providers are also, in turn, legally bound to comply with federal law enforcement agencies if they require such data. Such broad ranging powers for the law enforcement agencies are a common feature of the ordinance, which also empowers the Federal Investigation Authority to issue an arrest warrant without any direct involvement of the judiciary.
This means that in effect if the peoples found out how you took a picture of the man that always stands at the beginning of your lane and then posted it in your blog, then you may end up in jail (section 13 (d) of the bill renders it illegal to distribute any image on the Web without the prior explicit consent of the person in the picture). You may also be arrested for bombarding all your ‘frands’ with Valentine Day wishes (section 13 defines cyber stalking as ‘communicating obscene, vulgar, profane, lewd, lascivious or indecent language, picture or images with an intent to coerce, intimate or harass any person using a computer network, internet, network site, electronic mail or any other similar means of communication’).
Worse still, if you committed any of 21 crimes enlisted in the bill in your office premises, you will not only end up in jail yourself, but land your bosses in hot water as well. For section 21, on offenses by a corporate body, holds any corporation responsible for any action which was committed on its instruction or for its benefit. Some of these definitions, even by layman standards paint very abstruse criteria.
Even if one puts aside valid concerns about the lack of procedural safeguards and due process to protect the rights and the liberties of individuals, one cannot help but wonder how it will become a nightmare to implement the law, and then prove any accusations in a trial, especially given the international nature of cyber crime. Unless the crimes mentioned in it are defined in a manner consistent across other international jurisdictions, coordinated efforts by law enforcement officials to combat cyber crime will remain largely complicated and unsuccessful. There is also a most pressing need to educate law enforcers themselves about the nature of technology involved, so they can distinguish aptly between a casual surfer and genuine cyber criminal. The past reputation of our law enforcement agencies does not leave one with a lot of confidence in this respect.
In short, a separate ordinance for cyber crimes is in it self a step in the right direction. After all, rule of law in any capacity always constitutes towards blossoming a trustworthy environment for business and individuals to work in. But merely passing a law has never been enough to curtail any crime; the real deterrent will be its implementation and awareness among the public.
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By Law Article
July 13th, 2009 at 04:09pm
Under Education Law
As California’s financial debt, overcrowding and budget cuts eat away at the quality of education being given to students in California, and as the number of families grow who feel they can give their children a better education than is given in public schools, and without the influence of bullies and other disruptive elements in their children’s lives, there is now a significant number of children being homeschooled in California. California education lawyers and education attorneys throughout the State of California have been aware of this large segment for some time now in California.
From Palm Springs to Palm Desert, San Diego to Orange County, from El Cajon and Chula Vista to Anaheim, Irvine, Newport Beach, Santa Ana and Anaheim, from Santa Barbara, Ventura, Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo to Yorba Linda, Rancho Cucamonga, Moreno Valley, Ontario, Fontana and Fullerton, from Riverside and San Bernardino to La Quinta, Indio and Coachella, the number of children being homeschooled has created a significant number of households in California.
Therefore, when in February 2008, a California court ruled that unless one of the parents of a homeschooled child had a credentialed teaching degree, their children being taught at home were truant, it shocked the families of these homeschooled children.
This ruling was thought to affect 200,000 kids in the State of California. Protests were raised from parents of these children to the Governor of the State.
On rehearing, the same judges made an equally stunning reversal of their opinion. Judge H. Walter Croskey, of the Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles wrote that so long as parents declare their home to be a private school, they can continue to homeschool their children, even without credentials.
Parents, especially Christian parents of homeschool children and homeschooling associations hailed the decision. Governor Schwarzenegger perhaps naively expressed his hope that this might settle the issue once and for all.
However, in his decision on the issue, Judge Croskey noted that while California impliedly allows parents to homeschool, California currently has no enforcement mechanism. He said, given the State’s compelling interest in educating its children, and the absence of an express statutory and regulatory framework for homeschooling in California, additional clarity would be helpful.
Parents of homeschooled children should realize that Judge Croskey’s opinion is an invitation to legislators to create statutes and regulations in this area as well as a mechanism to enforce the rules they set for homeschooling.A
s a lawyer who must constantly read new laws, parents should know too that wherever there are legislators, they are busy creating new regulations.
Governor Schwarzenegger’s hope notwithstanding, the court’s ruling did anything but abdicate the right to make further rulings. After first holding against homeschooling and then completely reversing course and admitting that it did so simply on an implied allowance by the State to allow it, the next court to review the subject could very well rule completely differently.
For the moment, however, parents teaching their children at home can breathe a sigh of relief. How long that relaxed atmosphere will last, however, will yet be up to the courts and the state legislature.
If you have an education legal matter of any kind, we have the knowledge and resources to be your Moreno Valley Education Lawyers, and Chula Vista Education Attorneys. For this reason, be sure to hire a California law firm with education lawyers who can represent you from Palm Springs, Rancho Cucamonga, Orange County, San Luis Obispo, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach and Huntington Beach, Corona del Mar, Anaheim, Irvine, La Jolla, El Cajon, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Temecula, Palm Desert, Yorba Linda, Carlsbad, San Diego, Costa Mesa, Westminster, and Murrieta, to Indian Wells and La Quinta.
If you have an education legal matter of any kind, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson, or visit our website at http://www.sebastiangibsonlaw.com and learn how we can assist you. You can also call us to speak directly to Sebastian Gibson on the phone about your legal matter.
The Sebastian Gibson Law Firm serves all of San Diego, Orange County, Palm Springs and Palm Desert, the Coastal Cities from La Jolla, Carlsbad and Del Mar to Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Irvine, Santa Ana and up to Ventura, Oxnard, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. We also serve the Inland Empire cities of Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Temecula, Riverside and San Bernardino and all the cities in the Coachella Valley and high desert, from La Quinta, Indio, and Coachella to Yucca Valley and Victorville.
Visit our website at
http://www.sebastiangibsonlaw.com if you have an education legal matter of any kind. We have the knowledge and resources to represent you as your Moreno Valley Education Lawyer and Chula Vista Education Attorney or your attorney in and around the cities of Palm Springs, Palm Desert, San Diego, Orange County, Corona del Mar, Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Laguna Beach, Anaheim, Riverside, Chula Vista, Irvine, San Bernardino, Huntington Beach, Fontana, Moreno Valley, Oceanside, La Jolla, Del Mar, San Marcos, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Garden Grove, Palmdale, Long Beach, Corona, Yorba Linda, Escondido, Orange, Fullerton, Costa Mesa, Victorville, Carlsbad, Temecula, Murrieta, Mission Viejo, El Cajon, Vista, Westminster, Santa Monica, Malibu, Westwood, Hesperia, Buena Park, Indio, Coachella, Del Mar, Oxnard, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Cambria and Santa Barbara.
By Law Article
July 13th, 2009 at 10:09am
Under Education Law
Do you work in management but feel that your career isn’t going anywhere? If you have management experience but want to get into a new field you should get an online Law Enforcement Administration degree. An online Law Enforcement Administration Degree can give you the skills and knowledge that you need to manage a police station or sheriff’s office. It’s very important that police stations and sheriff’s offices have qualified, educated people running the day to day operations of the office because if a police station or sheriff’s office doesn’t run efficiently there could be serious consequences for the public. Also, if a police station or sheriff’s office doesn’t have an effective manager there could be all sorts of problems with lost paperwork and other slip ups that might end up putting criminals back on the street. The behind the scenes work in law enforcement can be just as important as the work of police officers so if you’ve ever thought about getting into law enforcement but don’t want to be a police office then getting an online Law Enforcement Administration degree can be just what you need to start a great new career in law enforcement. Every society will always need law enforcement offices and law enforcement personnel so you will be able to go anywhere in the world and find work with a Law Enforcement Administration Degree.
Since you can get an online Law Enforcement Administration Degree you can attend classes and do your work when it’s convenient for you. Most students who get an online Law Enforcement Administration degree have no trouble keeping their full time jobs and attending school part time online at night and on weekends. Attending class online usually involves using networking software and chat applications and also using email to stay connected to your other classmates and your teacher. Sometimes you may talk to your advisor or professor on the phone but most of the time you will be interacting online. Most of the lessons are interactive and all the materials that you need will be available online so that you can download them and save them for future reference. The Internet has made it easy for anyone who wants a Law Enforcement Administration degree to get one even if no schools in the area offer that degree. In the past some employers didn’t think that online degrees were as valuable as a degree from an established four year college or university but these days it’s become quite common for reputable four year and two year colleges to offer a wide variety of degree programs online for students that want to return to school or get a degree but need to work or have other commitments that make attending traditional classes difficult. An online Law Enforcement degree is the convenient way to get the education that you need to change your career and jump into a new industry. Since good managers will always be needed to help run police stations and sheriff’s offices having an online Law Enforcement Degree is a good way to make sure that your skills will always be in demand.
By Law Article
July 13th, 2009 at 04:09am
Under Education Law
Law is one of the most popular degree topics today and with very good reason. In the modern world, there are many types of law practice that are aired regularly. Criminal law is in more demand than ever, changes to laws in the last fifty years or so have made property lawyers in serious demand, divorce lawyers also get a lot of work put their way, and then of course there is the suing culture that we all live in is to blame for many of the liability and personal injury law firms that exist. With so many opportunities and many jobs going at any given point in time, then it is no wonder why a good percentage of students want to advance in the world of law. However, not all of them get the opportunity.
That should actually read that they did not get the opportunity before online education was invented. Law is an extremely popular subject and is offered by a high percentage of the online schools, colleges and universities out there at the moment. Even online colleges have a limited number of places every semester and there are usually very few to spare. Very few people drop out either, because it is so prestigious and an individual will need a law degree to make it into a firm after graduation. You should therefore make sure that you training is as much fun as possible because you will be stuck with it for a few years!
It is essential that you investigate all options before tying yourself to one specific online law course. The sheer range of courses online will be mind blowing and you will soon see distinct difference between the content and the structure of one course to another. No two courses are the same so it would be foolish to decide on one before vetting the rest.
However, it is not just course content that you should look at. In law, as I am sure you will realise if you want to go into the field, reputation is everything. It counts for far more than past results, and this applies to the place you studied at too. It will rarely make a difference if you trained online, but it will if you do not go to an accredited school and one with a reputation for turning out excellent law candidates.
Once you have looked at the reputation of online law schools then you will be able to narrow your list down, but not nearly enough to make a decision on that alone. It may be wise to look at who the different courses are aimed at because some specialize in a certain law, age group or social group. Some may only offer courses designed to give those with a knowledge of law already a boost so that their careers can advance, whereas others will take an individual with no knowledge of law and educate him or her to the highest level. You should make a shortlist of the ones that offer the kind of education that you need and compare that to the reputation list. This will leave you with a few potential schools and make it easier to decide from there. This whole process could take months of research and planning but it will be worth it for your career in the end so you should take the time and make the effort.
If you have made the decision to take law at an online university then you have made a big step forward, and one towards changing the rest of your life, and that can only be a good thing. You always reap what you sow and if you put in the effort to find the best possible school and course for you then good things will happen! Just remember that you have to put the effort in when doing to work online as well!
By Law Article
July 12th, 2009 at 10:10pm
Under Education Law
Becoming a lawyer is among the most fashionable course of study nowadays and with really fine reason. In the present time, in that respect, are several characters of practicing law are publicized regularly. Criminal justice law is in much demand in real time more than ever. Modifications to real estate and property laws in the past 50 years approximately have brought in property attorneys marketable to a critical level. Divorce attorneys, for marital separations, experience a plenty of wreak delegate their direction. And so let alone there follows the culture of litigating for insurance policy takes which we altogether exist in personifies the reason behind a bunch of the financial obligation and physical injury business law firm survive. With so a great deal of opportunities and businesses active around at some given period sooner or later, there is no doubt why a respectable percentage of scholars prefer to encourage successful the domain of law. Nonetheless, not every last of them has the chance.
That had better really show they were not able to find the opportunity in the beginning when cyberspace education was contrived. Legal philosophy is an exceedingly best-selling field of study and is tendered through a swollen percentage from the internet schools, universities and colleges out in that location at the moment. Steady cyberspace colleges feature a modified count of posts all semester and on that point are generally really a couple to reserve. Really some folks quit either, for they are indeed esteemed and a person will call for a law academic degree to pass into a business firm later upon graduation. You must therefore make certain that your schooling is every bit a good deal amusing as achievable because you will live wedged on it for a couple of years!
Equally a requirement, you must look into each alternative prior to tying one particular internet law curriculum. The array of classes online websites will be dumbfounding. It will shortly be discovered clear-cut deviation between the subject and structure of single course with some other. No dual courses are analogous; therefore it is not wise to settle with one prior to contemplating the rest.
Still, it is not merely course subject matter which you must check up on. In law schools, respectability is what matters. It chronicles as overwhelming more than previous results, and this implements to the school you enrolled at also. It will seldom cause a conflict if you schooled online. Simply when you do not attend a commissioned school and who does not bear superior law student prospects carries heavily on your chances.
When you have searched into the reputation of cyberspace schools for law that’s when you can finalize your list down. Yet, it is not virtually sufficient to establish a decision on that aspect entirely. It is wise to recognize what their classes are targeted at. A few specialize in a definite law practice, age bracket or societal grouping. Others could simply provide courses fashioned to feed those who have hit the books on law already to further their career promotion. Whereas, other sites shall admit individuals without prior knowledge of the law, school them to the fullest degree. Create a brief list of the ones which proposes the sort of education you necessitate and equate them to your list of prestigious internet classes. This will appropriate you with some possible schools tallying them simpler to determine from that point onwards. This entire procedure involve months of inquiry and careful planning, Yet, it will be meriting for your career ultimately. You must use up time and gain the drive.
If you made up your mind to consider law through the internet university, then you have induced a colossal step towards shifting the rest of your career. This may entirely be a beneficial thing. Remember, all good things come to those who wait! If you invest in the feat to uncovering the finest feasible school and curriculum for you then things will fall into place. When executing study online personify your top-grade performance always.
By Law Article
July 12th, 2009 at 04:10pm
Under Education Law
With lot of learned men passing through the intellectual land of India, it would not be wrong to say that India is a gifted land of knowledge and learning. With the ancient Nalanda- the globally famous University in Bihar, the trend and necessity has now led to the birth of universities and institutions like Delhi University, IIT, IIM, NIIT, AIIMS and the like. Whereas earlier the high dignitary gurus used to oversee the functioning of education centers, we now have specially assigned education ministers to maintain educational law and order. In a nutshell, Education in India has changed, and mostly for the better. With a keen interest to achieve 100% literacy rate, few Indian states have achieved the benchmark and are raising the bar for imparting higher education to all. If we talk about the Indian Education System, it is divided in the following stages: • Nursery• Primary• Higher Secondary• Senior Secondary• Graduation • Post GraduationThese various stages of Education, set by the Indian Education Ministry, are instrumental in an individual’s growth. Thus to ensure consistency in the overall development of the individual, first 12 years of education are made basic for all. Graduation and Post Graduation though depends upon person’s academic interest. The various fields that are available for a graduate and/or post graduate are: – Engineering and technology, teaching, medicine, law, agriculture, veterinary, polytechnic and others. The crazes for education has become so much that students are learning the courses through distance learning and through various courses available online. Many online coaching centers and institutions have built up to provide students with platforms that can hone their skills. Advanced degrees are available online, such as MA, MS, BA, BS, PhD. MBA, etc. The vogue/frenzy of getting educated is so much that many online universities/institutions have achieved government accreditation, so that scholars can be rest assured of the authenticity of their degrees. And with the subsequent rise in demand and supply of education, the colleges/ institutions/ universities are also trying their best to mark a nail in the fence and to live up to the competition, they are advertising in all extremes. Various non-profit organizations like Teach India from The Times of India group have also come up with teaching campaigns. Their aim is to give a vision to each and every child of India to read, write and speak in their interest, and subsequently in the interest of the nation.
By Law Article
July 12th, 2009 at 10:09am
Under Education Law
A Concise History of Education of Teachers, of Teacher Training and Teaching(ptint version of author’s site www.geocities.com/histedu
Western history of teacher training, education history, teaching theories, education of teachers, modern history od education, began in early 18th century Germany: teaching seminaries educating teachers were the first formal teacher training in Western history of education and teaching.
(History of education had 2nd century-BC Greek Spartan free public education, Athenian Academy until age 18 and higher Academy and Lyceum; Roman private formal schooling in tiers; China’s 1st century-BC administrator examinations; 1st century Jewish informal Cul’ Tura general education; Islam’s 9th century universities [madrasahs]; 16th century Aztec mandatory teen education; 18th century Russian nation-wide education, Poland’s Education Ministry, Chez ‘teacher of nations’ Comenius’s ‘Didactica Magna’ on universal education [compulsory, certified teachers, tests]; leading later Western history of education –17th century Scotland’s free education, 18th’s Norway’s mandatory literacy and New Zealand’s standard education, 21st’s Europe’s Bologna process equalising educational qualifications.)
Teacher education and training, first teacher training college in French history of education and history of teaching, Jean Babtiste de la Salle’s 18th century Brothers of the Christian schools, had non-clerical male teachers teaching poor and middle class children. Based on Greek philosophers’ philosophy of education and teaching, re-introduced by Islam, spirituality was not its only reason, basis of education. Teacher education and training had been clerical –this was Western history of education’s first secular teacher training college.
This philosophy of education changed educational history’s attitude to education. It reformed education, educational theory, learning, enabled further education reforms and educational theories of teaching in history of education. With education reforms in education history, educational theory of teacher education required of teachers an understanding of the human mind and the theory of education, knowledge of sciences and arts, principles and educational methods of teaching. This need in educational history for a teaching method, method of education, necessitated theories of education -in Western history of education educational theories on teacher education interested educators.
These educational philosophies and theories of education on teacher education became the norm in Western history of education, teacher training establishments first Normal Schools in the history of education and training of teachers.
Teacher education progressed educational history: in history of education and history of teaching the system of education required and enabled knowledge, in-service experience, certification for teachers, continuing professional development for teachers in teaching. This non-uniform system of teacher education and training enabled teachers, while teaching, at teacher seminars to refresh and increase their knowledge of theory of education and method of teaching -exchanging ideas among teachers.
Napoleon, in history of education and teacher training, uniformed professional teaching. Adopting Germany’s teacher seminars, in French history of education and in Western history of education and training of teachers, established the first uniform teacher education system.
Neither the USA’s educational history nor British history of education did in educational philosophies, systems of education, include formal teacher education and training, although Elizabeth-I had introduced teachers’ moral teaching fitness certification in teacher education .
In England’s history of education and teaching, in early 19th century Joseph Lancaster and Andrew Bell founded the Lancastarian teaching method of teacher training: in a monitorial system of teacher education and training senior students (‘monitors’) receiving teaching from tutors were teaching junior students, acting as teachers.
In Scotland’s history of education and teaching, 17th century free education compulsory in late 19th, Germany’s teacher education and training influenced David Stowe’s founding the Glasgow Normal Seminary for teachers.
Progress in teaching and teacher training began with Horace Mann’s Massachusetts Normal Schools in the USA’s educational history, and in Britain’s history of education by the churches’ and voluntary organisations’ teacher training colleges and teaching the colonials.
In philosophies of education arguments followed on teacher education in educational history: should persons of lower English social class attend teacher training colleges and give teaching to children of higher social class!? Might teachers’ teaching not influence young French minds with liberal ideas?!
(Japan’s educational philosophy [perhaps influencing the USA's educational philosophy, history of education and teaching] emphasised patriotic teacher education and teaching.)
In Europe’s history of teacher education and training, Rosencrantz’s 19th century ‘Philosophy of Education’ emphasised ‘philosophical and psychological data’; this, resembling Islam’s university faculties, developed into separate teaching disciplines.
In Sweden’s history of education and teaching, Pestalozzi furthered the progress of systems of education, advocating formal teacher training colleges.
(Pestalozzi, except theologically, was self-educated, did not leave a written account of teaching and of teacher training colleges; his place in the history of education and teaching is deducible in outline from his various writings, loving sincere deeds, the example he set.)
Germany’s Froebel, and Alexander Bain’s ‘Education as a Science’, favoured education of teachers through teacher training colleges; teacher education adopted what philosophies of education in Western educational history and teaching had lacked -Herbart’s pedagogical emphasis in teaching on five formal steps: preparation, presentation, comparison, generalisation, application.
Germany’s teacher education and training became the basis of developments in the history of education and teacher training; Derwent Coleridge and James Kay Shuttleworth in Britain, Mann in the USA broadly agreed: teacher education and training should emphasise techniques of teaching -”not only the subjects of instructions, but also the method of teaching”.
Jules Ferry laws’ compulsory education established teacher education and training in late 19th century French history of education: teacher education and training, by law, should be through formal teacher training colleges.
English speaking countries’ history of education and teaching, formal teacher education and training, began with the University of Edinburgh’s creating a chair in education, with St. Andrews; in the USA’s history of education, e.g., Henry Bernard, Nicholas Murray Butler, followed.
In Western history of education, England’s progress involved pedagogy and Herbart Sepencer’s teaching techniques in teacher education and training, the USA’s e.g., Francis W. Parker’s, studying Germany’s pedagogical teacher education developments.
In the USA’s history of education and teaching the Darwinian hypothesis (as before later scientific evaluation) influenced John Dewey at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools; taking into account from other disciplines what were considered relevant in teaching to child development, Brown University founded an education department.
(The La Salle College in Philadelphia, had been teaching education.)
New York’s Teachers College, founded 1888, was incorporated into the Columbia University, 1893, establishing its teacher training college, announcing: “The purpose of the Teacher Training College is to afford opportunity, both theoretical and practical, for the training of teachers, of both sexes, for kindergartens and elementary schools and secondary schools, of principals, supervisors, and superintendents of schools, and of specialists in various branches of school work, involving normal schools and colleges” -it became the basis, in Western history of education and teaching, of teacher education and training and Teacher Colleges.
(The USA’s educational history experts’ versions vary on it history of education.)
In most of British Commonwealth’s history of education and system of teacher training, entry into teacher training came to require senior secondary education at High School level or British Grammar School education with national Matriculation or Ordinary and Advanced General Certificate of Education (GCE) examinations –or equivalent.
In Europe’s history of education and teacher training, education with similar Gymnasium(/Abitur) or General Lycè e Diploma, or equivalent education, became professional teacher education and training entry qualification.
(In British history of education, until early 20th century, holders of those qualifications, by selection examination, could become temporary teachers. Oxbridge graduates could register ‘master’ and be syndicated teachers. Other universities’ graduates, to become teachers, attended teacher training colleges [if Bachelor of Education, second year teacher training of a teacher training college].)
In British Commonwealth’s history of education greater importance was attached to professionalism in teacher education and training: academic qualifications did not suffice for teaching; teacher examinations required specific periods of specifically professional study in teaching. Professional teaching involved two years’ professional study in teaching and additional in-house teacher training before professional teacher status. Professional teachers could, with another educational year at the teacher training college, specialise in a subject, e.g., geography or history (in farming colonies, e.g., Cyprus where Agriculture became a secondary school examination subject, with one or two more educational years’ through the Teacher Training College’s Rural Agricultural School). Science graduates without professional teaching training and education qualified for permanent teaching after a year’s classroom teaching experience approved by professionally qualified headmasters, as teachers of their subjects. Teachers were expected to attend teachers’ seminars as continuing professional development.
While professional qualifications are regarded for professional reasons equivalent to doctorates in their counterparts and what qualify for teaching, teacher education and training (school age becoming lower and years less, to enable maturer teachers and teaching), for professional teaching knowledge and skills acquired at teacher training colleges, favoured bachelor degrees with teaching content emphasising skills over theory and, e.g., the USA’s academic ‘first professional degree’ –more for research than professional practice.
(British history of education desired teaching with Post-graduate Certificate in Education [PGCE] -for English state school teaching Qualified Teacher Status [QTS] skills test, and [also if Bachelor of Education] successfully completing an induction year [in Scotland two] in school teaching as Newly Qualified Teacher [NQT], with continuing professional development; alternatively a specific teaching degree or on-the-job teacher training. Teachers trained at Teacher Training Colleges in [former] colonies –and similarly trained teachers with GCSE [grade C] or equivalent in English and Mathematics [for primary school teaching, also Physics] enjoy Qualified Teacher Status.)
(Canada’s provinces or schools certify teachers; Australia requires none for federally funded private schools; France’s is college/bachelor and Teacher Institute [master’s -2010].)
{In the USA’s history of education, until 1960s, one year’s teacher training college education was required for teacher certification. In 1984 an alternate teaching route was introduced: bachelor’s with teaching preparation and within a specified number of years completing a teaching or content based master’s. (Some universities award [with summer study] bachelor degrees in two years, some two bachelor degrees simultaneously [e.g., with two arts and two science majors both BA Philosophy and BS ChE Chemical Engineering]; the doctoral JD is pre-requisite to master’s LL.M which not all tenured professors need posses.) The ‘Master of Professional Studies’ (MPS) First Professional Degree is academic, not professional. Many states require of teachers, for permanent teaching, examinations in pedagogy and a content area or general knowledge accredited by many private associations’ varying standards; in early 21st century Marlboro-Carolina 20% of teachers had no certification.}
In educational history post general education having been academic for career advancement and scholarly activity or research, or professional for actual practice in the filed, the professional qualification is normally the terminating qualification; in professional teaching, advanced professional degrees enabling specialised teaching, e.g., at universities, are not regarded as part of professional teacher education and training for general education teaching; the USA’s main master’s area is for Ed.D or Ph.D. –research.)
In European history of education, teaching related educational leadership gained importance at the end of 20th century. Desiring the benefits of learnable leadership skills and inherent personal leadership qualities, teachers’ educational leadership skills in teaching leadership are remunerated according to national teacher pay scales.
The USA’s educational leadership teachers’ pay is non-uniform; educational leadership skills standards vary. Graduate educational leadership programs are in, e.g., community issues and educational law. Private Teacher Advancement Programmes (TAP) subscribed by some schools encourage teachers in administrative or teaching development: a teacher prepares an individual growth plan (IGP) with an educational goal or teaching activity, or a cluster group of teachers identify a student learning need, becoming ‘mentor’ or ‘master teacher’/‘teacher of teachers’.
As others’, USA’s teacher training colleges’ comparable teaching qualifications enjoy international regard.
In their history of education, having less aspired to ‘practical’ general education as in the USA and 21st century Britain, most British Commonwealth and European teaching institutions almost uniformly value widely academic general education as culture not acquirable in post general education (e.g., an opposition leader to a Prime Minister [both lawyers] “I as a Grammar School boy” [would not take ‘that’ from him who was not]) and Britain’s suggestion to equate practical skills certificates with general academic qualifications was criticised.
(Early 21st century British educational history saw [university or equivalent mandatory student grants becoming loans, unemployment necessitating longer and more courses, foreigners scoring higher in English] no increase since late 20th in literacy.)
(In the USA’s history of education, with 20% adult functional illiteracy, as the educationists’ concerns grew, the educationalists considered Europe’s baccalaureate system of education; with growing public interest in education, at the end of 20th century a state appointed three generals to improve the standards of teaching and education and at the beginning of 21st century a general was appointed to federally improve teaching and educational standards.)
In educational history interest in the teaching profession has been based on the status of teachers. Regard for teachers in late 20th century was highest in Russia where teachers enjoyed better employment terms than elsewhere.
(In Britain’s history of education, 1980s’ miss-projection of numbers of teachers needed necessitated engaging science graduates without teaching qualifications as teachers; but a status was enjoyed by teachers of regard as in Europe, and, about the end of 20th century, knighthood for long serving teachers was suggested –due to controversy over peerages it did not materialise. At the beginning of 21st century reducing undergraduate degrees to two years with vocational content was considered, with master’s for teachers -also non-major professional qualifications being above undergraduate degrees in National Vocational Qualifications; but Teachers’ status was regarded to have been equated for economical reasons to classroom assistants’ socially criticised for taking classes without professional teacher education and training.])
In the USA’s history of education, teaching has hailed a form of essentialism in education, with a culture of practicality and model citizenry, emphasising respect for authority (advocated also for 21st century British education); with no general minimum standard in teacher training and education, some states not recognising the teaching qualifications of some others, teachers and teaching appear officially to enjoy no higher regard then Bernard Shaw’s remark (about writers) “Those who can, do; those who can not, teach”.
(In the USA, e.g., some teachers paid only term time having to seek vacation work, teaching and teachers generally are regarded to have enjoyed less good terms and conditions than elsewhere in proportion to social regard and public resources.)
The growth of interest in culture and education in Western history of teaching has been seen in the European Union, e.g., in Cyprus with the popularisation of education in mid. 20th century -reportedly with highest percentage of university graduates by 21st.
In Western educational reforms spiritual values in education are protected by teaching religious studies in schools in American secularism (protection of religion from political influence) and by the religious affiliations of many universities; in European secularism (protecting against one’s formal dominance of the other), often with a state religion enshrined in the constitution, this is ensured by, e.g., Britain’s Education Acts’ requirement in compulsory education of religious worship by pupils at least once a month and, while British universities are not formally religiously affiliated, the availability of chapels and chaplains to students at universities.
While preferences in education (e.g., the pedagogy based Steiner-Waldorf education for creating free moral and integrated individuals -its teachers’ and schools’ say on defining the curricula by some disagreed with, or Montessori’s pre-school and elementary school child’s self directed activities with auto-didactic equipment -regarded by some as risking raising obedient automatons), and emphasis (be it practical skills or Emerson’s ‘thinking man’), have all had praise and criticism in the history of education and teaching and arguments continue on pragmatism and creation -v- evolution, generally Socrates’s argument that the rightly trained mind turns toward virtue carries weight in most educational systems. Basically, in every history of education, an important aim of education and the societies’ all time expectations have been on the lines of these verses (by the Cypriot teacher, the late Orhan Seyfi Ari):
” ‘I was an ape’ you say -or amphibian?And now?! Are you not now.. ‘man’!? ”
The cultural values balance have been more reflected in the education and training of teachers in Western history of education and teaching and the status of teachers in Europe mostly in Spain, Italy and France where, without much disregard to spiritual values, school teachers’ political and ideological affiliations have been the norm in professional teaching.
The web site may interest on teacher the late Orhan Seyfi Ari at www.geocities.com/eoa_uk
By Law Article
July 12th, 2009 at 04:09am
Under Education Law
Introduction
We think Tourism represents a great deal for any state strategical development. We believe its diffusion and awareness must be so much present in formal as in informal education; thus, we will take over the law teaching issue in higher levels and oriented to tourism students.
From a historical perspective, it is not wrong to assert that Tourism syllabi, in South America in general and in our country in particular, are fairly new. And therefore the reflection on it remains, from a scientific point of view, in an embryonic state.
So recent is it that the UBA has not been able (neither it did not want to, nor has it not been allowed) to include a university academic offer . The first dilemma of the touristic career (still under debate) has been whether Tourism Ph.B., which comprehends hotel Management knowledge should be set forth, or it should be dealt with as two separate Ph.Bs with a common trunk. Although it is not our purpose to elucidate such an enigma, it is important to emphasize it, since it directly affects on any juridical subject content we should try to introduce.
We would also like to clear up that, previous to any discussion and for market reasons, Universities have come across the disjunctive as to incorporate careers related to hospitality industry into their faculties or departments. The second question was then: Where? Thus, some universities, chose a humanistic perspective and added them to their social sciences faculties . Others, from a more technical view, tended to attach them either to their Statistics department , or to the Geography department . The newest ones decided to create independent departments or faculties , others submitted their location to structural causes . And finally, there were institutions who, from an interpretation closer to management, set them in the Economics environment ; situation which, by the way, coincides with our country’s political definition .
But if it was such a problem to set the Tourism Ph.B. at Social Sciences Faculty, none the less problematic was it to set a Law subject into the respective Ph.B. degrees (Hotel Management or Tourism).
From the curricular layout beginnings, it seemed obvious that the normative subject, which gave unity to the whole vision of professional future, could not be absent from the sector’s regulatory frame. And although, to some extent, almost everyone agreed to set this knowledge in the last career grades, the main issues every subject should be based on were not usually dealt with, i.e.: What is taught?; how is it taught?; and what for?
No wonder just until a few years ago one could take any university program and notice that its core themes were some sort of fast and summarized Civil Law course, with some reference to Hotel Management laws and travel agencies. Nothing more contradictory or detached from the content, skills and appreciations students should incorporate during this stage of development. The underlying idea seems to have been: “Should there be a Law subject, we do not know how or what for; then let the lawyer who gives it place its content”. And thus we have seen such nonsense as Tourism students trying to elucidate the right-possessor’s degree in a complex succession, or wondering about the differences between divorce and de facto separation or the like. Posed this way and stating the obvious, the experience has become frustrating for everyone.
It is not difficult to think this problem could be avoided, had they taken similar and tested pedagogical experiences as reference. Such as, for example, Law teachers from Economics and vice versa who long ago had to work getting over this kind of obstacles for the sake of a holistic vision.
The Law is not some panacea for all sector’s evil, nevertheless it soothes, modulates and directs them. And since we are dealing with a transverse activity as Tourism, it is sensible insert this subject at the end of the academic studies. The Law will work as an engine or as a hindrance, depending on how we build it as participating citizens.
WHAT
Following the test period two inquiries were made: 1) Is there some subject we can call: “Tourism Law” or are we just facing one of the many activities which require some specific regulation? And, after that 2) from which content should the very subject layout spring?
For the first question some authors (they certainly followed the Saxon Travel Law trend of thought) risked the first hypothesis focusing on the “travel agent” actor as the main generator of new contractual figures, so Puig andVitta were able to assert the existence of a “…Tourism Law which is no longer framed in the traditional Civil or Commercial Law matrixes that is only partially concealed by the Navigation Law in both its species aerial and maritime”. Nevertheless, we think that in order to define the autonomy of a branch of the Law, it is necessary to discover whether the principles which govern it are axiologically original so that they make up a complete and closed systematic juridical construction, and make it unnecessary to appeal to the principles of another branch .
As we can see, the debate, still open, goes beyond an academic whim; since whether we choose one posture or the other it will suit the curricular development.
The second question also had dissimilar answers;
1) some understood they should assume students counted or should count on a solid civic formation which allows them to fully go into the different meanings of the law.
2) others proposed that although this was what “it should be” it was not what they perceived within the classroom; therefore the proposal was to “recover” the knowledge to frame the activity. That is to say, I can not develop or expose the “Law” theme if the student lacks the basic notions of “State”, “Nation”, etc…
3) a minority (probably more pressed by a limited time schedule than by curricular academic needs) tended to go straight to content nucleus; mentioning maybe during the process, but leaving it to the student’s initiative, the reconstruction task or the basic concepts incorporation.
HOW
Avoiding the pedagogical debate on whether content determines methodology or not; let’s admit at least they condition it. From our point of view, there are three factors that help in the way of teaching:
A) Teacher’s formation; the subject as given by lawyers bears their formation’s virtues and faults. This is because there are few or no Tourism and Law specialization courses; therefore this demand can not be reached with foreign proposals which obviously suit their own country’s legislations.
B) The institutional. In a structural sense on two levels;
1) From a macro-level variables can be:
i. “time schedule”,
ii. “duty”,
iii. “Level” (University or Further Education) will operate as filter and selection when it comes to establishing curricular priorities and
iv. “Setting” the career regarding the faculty or department it belongs to. Put in other words: if the tourism Ph.B. belongs to a Natural Sciences faculty or department its subject content in general, and the juridical ones in particular can be different from another one which belongs to an Economics faculty.
2) “Institutional culture” also prevents the subject from being dealt with as a water-tight box, but be into gear with others which are a key issue in the global problem interpretation. Thus Tourism Policies, Social Tourism, Programmed Learning, etc. feed and are fed by the normative.
C) The Political. Programs can not merely be a laboratory’s production, or a more or less lucid result of a couple of professionals´ experience. They should be a scientific and academic production reflecting and framed into a wider and serious political proposal, and giving the sector a real “state policy” status, highly above occasional speech and in harmony with the OMT directives to which we belong.
To sum up: The strategies we have been looking through are diverse and deserve to be considered without dogmatism, as follows:
1) Several European programs in general and Spanish ones in particular have dealt with the issue from the different Law branches, so it is not odd to find a “Tourism Private Law” or a “Tourism Public International Law”, etc.
2) In our country, following our treatise writer’s tradition, some have established a General Part and a Particular Part; it is as much as saying that while the first one involves the subject’s founding concepts, the second one aims at the specific themes (Hotel Management, agencies, etc.)
3) Some teachers have focused on Law transmission, others have thought of the traditional case method and some of us have opted for mixed techniques.
4) But even if it is difficult to know where to start from, so it is to know where to arrive at. We have seen some complex proposals including trade issues, such as “Time shares”, which although they are closely connected to the touristic phenomenon, it is not thus since they compel us to long juridical considerations in order to comprehend them all. In other proposals it is worrying the lack of themes such as “Natural and Cultural Heritage” by understanding they exceed the required for the professional formation. We shall disagree with such an opinion, since we consider it axial in the subject into which every notion of “sustainability” fits.
WHAT FOR
“First in the intention, last in the execution”, as the old saying goes. The what-for-answer is usually given in that which some teachers call “objectives”, nevertheless most of the times its formulation may be so open and general that it produces ambiguity.
Who utters this first statement? Who outlines each subject’s objectives? : the University. How? Going to the polls with the teacher, with the specialist (or at least they should) Where? In the subject’s outline first, and in the general incumbencies afterwards. Why? By proxy.
With a dubious legislative technique, the 24.521 Higher Education Law, in its 42nd Article speaks of “competences” and delegates their resolution to university institutions. This has produced a chaos of overlapping careers (e.g. Guides) or confusion (e.g. between Tourism Ph.B and hotel Management Ph.B.). This could be solved just by declaring the career of “public concern”. This status compels both the Ministry of Education as well as the Council of universities to specify any careers professional incumbencies. Thus, giving some part to the CONEAU (National Commission of Evaluation and University Accreditation) in the institutional qualification, misleading academical offers could be avoided and the profession would be appraised as of those proposals having the minimum required quality. (That is why, no matter how difficult state supervision is for the private sector, several universities have been struggling for the career to be declared of “public concern”).
As verbally expressed, the somehow shared objectives (neither exclusive nor excluding) arising from the different programs are:
Cognitive:
1) To master the Law basic concepts
2) To relate the different social types with any enterprise’s juridical frame
3) To analyze jurisprudential cases
Procedural:
4) To diagnose responsibility regulations in particular situations
5) To decide whether to appeal to the judicial system and/or to the alternative systems of conflict solution
6) To apply and cooperate with the making of the different sector’s contract modalities
Appreciative:
7) To show interest in the cultural and natural heritage
To work interdisciplinary
9) To show respect for the rules
Sitting from the other side, students also have their own perception on the different answers. They usually give us some hints in the annual poll (always so significant):
A) For life
B) For the completion of my professional formation
C) For determining whether I will need a lawyer or not
D) For being able to count on another management tool
As we can see and despite generalization, institutions and students are not (at least on this point) so disconnected. Civic knowledge is indeed useful and necessary at any instance of citizenship, but in the context of a Tourism career it becomes unavoidably instrumental.
Thus, such an activity, intended to be a model and a development impeller, implies respect for the regulatory frame it is embedded in. Not because (as we said at the beginning) it is going to solve its problems, but because any activity dealt with a “fair play” has greater growth opportunity and generates inversion.
OUR PROPOSAL
- We think it should be talked about a Tourism Applied Law from a multiplicity of actors;
- That certain real deficiencies students normally “drag” from Technical school should be replaced, and therefore this requires an average time schedule;
- That as long as we invest on research, it will be possible to develop subject content;
- That it is necessary to generate academic forum and a courses offer which allows the completion of teacher formation lawyers need to give a multidisciplinary approach;
- That curricula must, without losing originality, integrate with the State’s general planning; and this planning should also articulate with the OMT guidelines;
- That the Tourism Ph.B. career should be proposed as of “public concern”, giving it study level hierarchy and removing shady-zones from its “competences”.
By Law Article
July 11th, 2009 at 04:09pm
Under Education Law
TerminologyThe federal law governing special education is called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. It is codified in Title 20, United States Code, starting at section 1400. It was initially passed in 1975. A number of major reauthorizations have taken place. The two most recent were in 1997 and in December 2004. The December 2004 changes took effect, for the most part, on July 1, 2005. The changes made in the 2004 Act are numerous and varied, but perhaps not revolutionary.In early 2002, President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) which is intended to ensure quality education and a high level of accountability. Many of the provisions of NCLB had an uncertain impact on IDEA 1997. Hence, IDEA 2004 attempts to clarify the impact of NCLB.The IDEA speaks in terms of a State Education Authority (SEA) and a Local Education Authority (LEA). In Connecticut, the SEA is the State Department of Education. The LEA is generally the local school district, which is referred to as the district or the Board. In this context, the Board refers to the district’s administration, not to the actual Board of Education and its elected members.State and Federal LawConnecticut passed its special education law in 1967. The federal Education of All Handicapped Children Act initially passed in 1975. Hence, the Connecticut act predates the federal. The federal law did not pre-empt the field. Rather, federal courts can enforce both federal and relevant state law. “Relevant state law” is law which is not inconsistent with federally mandated requirements, both substantive and procedural, of the Act, and includes, inter alia, procedural safeguards which are more stringent than required procedures set forth in the federal law. Burlington v. Department of Education, 736 F.2d 773 (1st Cir. 1984), aff’d 471 U.S. 359 (1985). For the most part, Connecticut and federal requirements have converged. Yet, most of the detailed procedures for eligibility and due process stem from Connecticut law, as does the nomenclature. In Connecticut, there is a Planning and Placement Team (PPT) meeting. In New York, it is called a Committee on Special Education (CSE) meeting. In the federal law, it is called an Individualized Education Plan Team (IEP Team) meeting. The Connecticut ApproachThe Connecticut State Department of Education (SDE) takes a hand-off approach to local school boards. This compares to New York, where the state department closely regulates most aspects of special education. The Connecticut SDE advises local school boards on questions, when raised. Indeed, SDE also provides advice to parents. The state approves private special education schools, but the approval is largely a matter of seeing if the right boxes are checked, rather than looking at the quality of the education provided. The state, pursuant to federal law, receives and processes complaints, but appears to be interested only in procedural requirements, avoiding making any comments on the substance of the claim. And, the state runs the due process and mediation systems. This is all done by a tiny group of people in Hartford. The SDE also runs the Special Education Resource Center (SERC), which serves as an information clearinghouse, library, and training center. As a general rule, the State Department of Education sees itself as a consultant, rather than as a regulator. The Special Education Universe in ConnecticutFor the 2007-2008 school year, there were 68,989 children in Connecticut who were designated as eligible for special education services. This number is a drop of 5,000 from five years earlier. Special education students represent about 12% of the total student population of 574,287. Districts vary widely in percentages designated as eligible for special education, with some districts near 5% and others over 18%. Among disabilities, the largest group, comprising 32% of the special education population, consists of students with learning disabilities (LD). Five years ago, learning disabled students represented 38% of the special education population. The next largest group, accounting for 21% of the special education population, contains students with speech or language impairments. Other health impairment (OHI) accounts for 17%, severe emotional disturbance (SED) is 8.5% and intellectual disabilities (ID) are 4%. Some 6.4% of special education students in Connecticut carry the Autism label. The racial differences are, however, significant. The following chart shows the 2007-2008 percentage of each racial/ethnic grouping that has a particular special education designation.
By Law Article
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