This case presented in this article involves a transgender middle school student-athlete (BPJ) and the West Virginia State Board of Education (WVSSAC). BPJ, who at the time was preparing to enter sixth grade at a new school, alleges that Defendants Burch, Stutler, the WVSSAC, and Attorney General Morrisey deprived her of equal protection under the…

Many within early childhood and early childhood teacher education are concerned about the changed kindergarten. At the same time, students entering early childhood teacher education programs were educated in these changed schooling systems that emphasize standards and accountability, which can impact the ways in which they make sense of teaching…

Drawing upon Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as theoretical framework and methodological tool, the present paper critically examines the legislation that has established English as official language in 30 states. This study captures the motivation and rationale of the policies, their stated outcomes and educational implications. The analysis…

On February 24, 2017, all of the authors of the state-of-the-state manuscripts published in the "Journal of Education Finance" met in Cincinnati, Ohio, to participate in a roundtable discussion focused on recent legislative actions in 38 states. A majority of those papers were revised to reflect a final report on legislative actions…

A recent survey of 41 different state boards of education revealed that officials from 28 states indicate that they are experiencing teacher shortages. The shortages in some states are significant. While the teacher shortage in many states is tied to different factors, one frequently cited reason for leaving the teaching profession is low pay.…

In 1816, when Laurent Clerc, a deaf teacher of deaf students from France, met the Reverend Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a hearing preacher from the United States, one of the world's most important partnerships began. Gallaudet had visited England and then come to France in search of a pedagogy to teach deaf children. His quest was initiated by Alice…

In this article, we explain how overly prescriptive, rigid state statutory and regulatory policy frameworks regarding teacher evaluation, tenure and employment decisions outstrip the statistical reliability and validity of proposed measures of teaching effectiveness. We begin with a discussion of the emergence of highly prescriptive state…

Over the past two decades or so, a majority of states have implemented policies that link teenagers' driver's licenses to school attendance, academic performance, or behavior, but those requirements are not backed by solid research evidence. Experts trace the start of the trend to 1988, when West Virginia enacted a law linking driving privileges…

Differential response (DR), also referred to as alternative response (AR), family assessment response (FAR), or multiple track response, was developed to incorporate family-centered, strengths-based practices into child protective services (CPS), primarily by diverting lower risk families into an assessment track rather than requiring the…

This article provides information related to organizing a grassroots lobbying effort within a state association and working for the passage of a bill. This information resulted from experience working for the successful passage of the pay parity bill for nationally certified school psychologists in West Virginia during the 2008 legislative…

Adequate funding for the nation's schools to meet the call for higher student achievement has been a litigious issue. Spending on schools is a political choice. The choices made by state legislatures, in some cases, have failed to fund schools adequately and have incited school finance lawsuits in almost all states. These proceedings are generally…

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) brought with it a barrage of data from standardized tests, but when do teachers have time to analyze student data? The first days of school are hectic preparing classrooms, organizing supplies, learning the names on class rosters, and completing mounds of paperwork. This article describes D-Day--a day for data…

On March 28, 2008 West Virginia's governor signed into law House Bill 4117 that provides salary stipends to school psychologists and school nurses who are nationally certified. This accomplishment was largely due to 2 years of work undertaken by three dedicated persons in West Virginia: school psychologists Sarah Kendall and Terry Thorn and school…

In the first quarter of the 2004 legislative sessions, some states continued to amend existing laws to meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, while others began to move beyond compliance to improve the means by which they intend to leverage greater student achievement. Still others addressed health issues, fiscal officers,…

Focuses on those elements of an age discrimination suit that have traditionally presented the most difficulty for attorneys--burden of proof, bona fide occupational qualifications, and procedure matters among them. Available from West Virginia Law Review, W.V.U. Law Center, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506; sc $4.00. (Author/IRT)