This article presents some conflict-related issues that school leaders encounter in resolving disagreements and misunderstandings between parents of students with disabilities and school representatives. Two examples of special education service disagreements are employed to illustrate how a trained and impartial education liaison representative…

This paper utilizes the work of Elise Boulding as a theoretical framework for analyzing the potentials and shortcomings of the US educational policy, "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" (NCLB). The interrelated concepts of respect, solitude, imagination, and partnerships from Boulding's scholarship are detailed. NCLB is summarized along…

Louisiana developed a time frame for compiling the State Performance Plan with as much opportunity for broad stakeholder input as possible before the required submission date. Bearing in mind the requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, Louisiana's Steering Committee projected performance targets through the year 2014 for the…

Bearing in mind the requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, Louisiana's Steering Committee projected performance targets through the year 2014 for the important areas of: (1) Graduation with a Diploma; (2) Dropout Rate; (3) Placement, ages 6-21 and ages 3-5; (4) Achievement Performance Levels, and (5) Discipline. Annual gains were…

The reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), signed on December 3, 2004, required that, not later than one year after the date of enactment of the reauthorized IDEA, each state is required to have in place a performance plan evaluating the state's implementation of Part B and describing how the state will improve such…

The author has lived in two worlds for many years. As a former band director and musician, he was constantly immersed in the world of creativity. Even today, after 36 years in educational administration, he spends his weekends judging band contests that require long hours at very low pay. He does so because he enjoys the creativity and enthusiasm…

The purpose of this study was to describe special education administrators' reports of the social supports (House, 1981) that ameliorate the stress inherent in their professional role. This study used a mixed methods design and was conducted in two sequential phases involving 153 special education administrators in a northeastern state. During…

Researchers and educators have long tried to find the connection between participation in sport-related activities and academic and social development among youths. This article traces the conceptual ideas that led to the design of an after-school sports program (Project Coach). This program promotes positive youth and community development…

The Principal's Legal Handbook contains information and recommendations for practice in four areas. Section 1, "Students and the Law," yields interesting and informative answers on a number of issues related to students and the law: recent issues in schools relative to students' rights; the use of technology; and the latest case law and…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004 established a requirement that all States develop and submit to the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) a performance plan designed to advance the State from its current level of compliance with the statutory and regulatory requirements of the law…

The relationship between bullying or harassment and LGBT youth is examined in this article. Recent research has exposed a relationship between gender-based and sexualized forms of violence and harassment in school, and it's been theorized that heterosexism-- the belief that heterosexuality is superior to other forms of sexuality -- is the…

Imagine a scenario in which an individual gets up every day and goes to work in fear--in fear of performing the difficult tasks at work--in fear of the colleagues who perform better. The individual is in fear of the boss who is omnipotent, larger than life and constantly judging, evaluating, and sentencing employees to a lifetime of failure. The…