Educational supervision has historically sought to improve the quality of teaching. This book is a text for undergraduate and graduate students who are engaged in the study of issues in educational supervision; it is a compendium of informed commentaries on current issues written by prominent scholars in the field. The first part (12 chapters)…

Presents a discussion of the legal context of evaluation systems upon which merit pay programs are based. Following the discussion of the law, a model merit pay program is presented. (MLF)

Describes how a last issue of the school newspaper carrying senior class wills offended some faculty members and how the issue of censorship was raised and dealt with. (CRH)

Urges that teachers be allowed to play a more active role in school restructuring. Argues that democratic ideals cannot be taught by a school system that is not run democratically. Insists that proponents of restructuring and educational renewal must see as central the teachers' control over professional affairs. (DK)

To guarantee an efficient educational system, effective evaluation and supervision of teacher performance are necessary. However, the evaluation of teacher performance presents two major problems: first, no clear definition or measure of effective teaching exists, and second, evaluation is perceived to have conflicting purposes, either as a…

At least 17 university faculty members have been the direct objects of unfavorable public commentary by the conservative organization Accuracy in Academia, Inc (AIA). Two case studies that have received much attention involve two political science professors: Dr. Terry Anderson of Texas A & M University, and Dr. Mark Reader of Arizona State…

A nationwide controversy over the right of privacy has arisen as a result of companies probing into their workers' habits and health through such means as mandatory drug tests, electronic databases, and lie detector tests. The legal claims arising from these civil suits against employers for invasion of privacy have established precedents that are…

This speech reviews the power of school boards with respect to dismissal, and identifies implications of due process for supervision and evaluation, particularly as it relates to incompetence as a basis for dismissal. The first section defines the state-sanctioned powers of a school board, including the difference between discretionary and…

Argues that parents and special interest groups should not be allowed to ban books from school libraries. States that an uncensored school library contributes to freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom to understand other cultures, and freedom to examine controversial issues. Notes that these freedoms contribute to helping children become…

Shows how political campaigning and legal action won a three-year battle (beginning in 1986) for tenure by an Asian Pacific American professor, D. Nakanishi, at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Describes the case's academic context, explains the legal alternatives, and analyzes the legal/political strategy adopted. (JB)

This book analyzes the unionization of elementary and secondary school teachers in a variety of nations. Following the acknowledgments, foreword by Charles T. Kerchner, and introduction, 16 articles are presented from different countries on international labor relations in education. Each chapter contains an overview and exploration of the…

Cites court cases where school boards presented evidence that a teacher's lifestyle or conduct provided grounds for dismissal. (HOD)

Describes to experience of one of professor D. Nakanishi's graduate students, who with others, lobbied the California State Legislature on Nakanishi's tenure denial at the University of California Los Angeles. Describes Nakanishi as a teacher and mentor and links the tenure struggle to the Asian-American community's political development. (JB)

This paper is part of a collection of 54 papers from the 48th annual conference of the Education Law Association held in November 2002. It discusses teachers' rights to private and public speech. Specifically, it examines the rights of special-education teachers and other special-education professionals to advocate, privately or publicly, on…

Describes the role of university students in professor D. Nakanishi's three-year battle for tenure at the University of California Los Angeles. Details the development and importance of a plan, outreach, and networking; and describes the campaign's connection with larger issues of justice and equal representation for Asian Pacific Americans. (JB)