ALERT: COVID-19 INFORMATION, EBOOK AND ONLINE RESOURCES

Law & Education Inequality

Removing Barriers to Educational Opportunities

Edited by:
Susan C. Bon, University of South Carolina
Jeffrey C. Sun, University of Louisville

A volume in the series: Law & Educational Inequality. Editor(s): Susan C. Bon, University of South Carolina. Jeffrey C. Sun, University of Louisville.

Published 2015

Over the past decade, No Child Left Behind, Common Core, Race to the Top, data mining initiatives, Title IX gender equity, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and executive actions on immigration illustrate key federal initiatives that have redefined standards, priorities, and practices within educational institutions. Similarly, state policies in terms of school funding, school choice, teacher qualifications, student bullying, and other measures have added another layer of complexity to the education law and policy dialogue particularly when addressing matters of education inequality. These emergent policies beget the question: how have these policies contributed to easing the effects of educational inequality?

The purpose of this book is to examine the role of law as potentially countering or impeding desirable education reforms, and it calls on readers to consider how policymakers, lawyers, social scientists, and educators might best alter the course in an effort to advance a more just and less unequal educational system.

CONTENTS
Preface. Acknowledgments. Part I: Organization and Governance. Equity Through Differentiation: The Paradoxical Quest to Make Education Equal for Everyone by Making It Different for Everyone, Daniel Kiel. Can Faith-Based Charter Schools Survive Constitutional Challenges?, Charles J. Russo and Gerald M. Cattaro. Part II: English Language Learners. Beyond Legal Remedies: Toward Funding Equity and Improved Educational Opportunities for English Language Learners, Carrie Sampson and Sonya Douglass Horsford. The Achievement Gap for English Language Learners: The Law, the Challenges, and a Possible Solution, Philip T. K. Daniel and Jeffrey C. Sun. Part III: Students With Disabilities. Managing Life-Threatening Allergies in the School Setting, Brenda R. Kallio, Richard T. Geisel, and Angela Jonasson. The IDEA Transition: Individualizing Educational Opportunities for Students With Disabilities, Susan C. Bon and Nicole D. Snyder. Part IV: Bullying and LGBT Youth. An Overview of Judicial and Legislative Responses to the Bullying Epidemic, Richard T. Geisel, Brenda R. Kallio, and Christa Brodina. The Importance of Law and School Policy in Making Schools Safer for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth: Lessons from Ontario, Christine Bellini and Julian Kitchen. Part V: Teacher Candidate Dispositions. Use of Disposition Criteria in the Approval Process of Teacher Candidates by Schools of Education, Lawrence T. Kajs, Bettye Grigsby, and Kent A. Divoll. Dispositional Discipline: The Challenge to Institutional Prerogative, Thomas Sheeran, Vincent Rinaldo, R. Michael Smith, and Walter Polka. About the Contributors.

REVIEWS
"Law and Education Inequality expertly examined multiple factors that contribute to inequality in education. Through examining the role of law and how it may negatively impact desirable educational reforms, the authors help readers think critically about how policymakers, lawyers, social scientists, and educators can work toward equal education for all people. By doing so, the study joins other efforts that seek to use empirical understandings of youth and legal responses to their needs to address their rights (see, e.g., Levesque 2015, 2016a, b). This is an emerging field that takes both empirical science and the law seriously. From this perspective, this book makes an invaluable contribution as it provides an example of the importance of this line of work. More specifically, it reveals that, although our society and educational systems in general have come a long way, it is important to recognize that there is inequality in the education system, identify factors that contribute to inequality, and consider ways to remedy them. Through this realization, people can work collaboratively and support the basic liberties of youth from diverse populations." Hannah Colias Indiana University in Adolescent Research Review (Read full review)

PREVIEW
MORE INFORMATION