Date of Award

1-1-1981

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Teaching & Learning

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to (1)clarify which school law issues, as perceived by selected members of the legal community of North Dakota, are most important to North Dakota public school superintendents and (2)to determine the perceptions of selected members of the North Dakota legal community with respect to the level of superintendents' understandings of school law issues.In gathering the data, two methodologies were used: (1)a questionnaire constructed by the author and distributed through the mail and (2)a structured telephone interview conducted with sixteen school law experts. The first section of the questionnaire elicited information concerned with selected characteristics; the second section asked respondents to choose from nine school law categories and rank the six most important. The participants were then asked to rate the perceived level of superintendents' understanding on each of the six previously ranked categories.The questionnaire was sent to 332 legal and educational professionals and sixteen school law experts; all worked and resided within North Dakota. Structured telephone interviews with school law experts provided additional information for the study.Analysis of the data was completed by considering 144 Kruskal-Wallis comparisons that compared sub-groups on the rank importance of legal issues and the rate of superintendents' understanding of school law issues. Sub-groups were defined by personal, professional, and community characteristics.Conclusions. The following conclusions were drawn from an analysis of the questionnaire data and interview information: (1)Lack of homogeneity in the legal community population suggests that school law advice may be slanted according to the party giving counsel. (2)Members of the legal community perceive the importance of various legal issues differently with more concern for the financing and maintenance of the school as an institution than for the student clientele. (3)The importance placed on school law issues is largely a function of professional training and experience. (4)The differences in perceptions of professional sub-groups with regard to the level of superintendents' understanding of school law issues are not large. (5)The judgment as to a superintendent's understanding of school law is largely a function of personal contact and shared views and attitudes; the more one works with a superintendent, the higher one rates understanding. (6)School superintendents are perceived to understand money issues better than "people" issues. (7)There exist, at best, tenuous working relationships between members of the legal community and superintendents; such relationships are characterized by a reaction to a legal emergency. (8)Teacher nonrenewals, discharges, and evaluations; school financing; and teacher contract negotiations create the most school law problems for superintendents. (9)Superintendents can avoid most litigation by improving their legal knowledge and by developing better interpersonal relationship skills.Recommendations. (1)A companion study should be made to determine the perceptions of North Dakota superintendents as they relate to school law matters. (2)Studies of North Dakota education-related legislation and case law need to be made. (3)The dissemination of school law information should focus on issues pertinent to North Dakota. (4)Various agencies and organizations need to coordinate their school law related activities. (5)Increased interaction between legal and educational professionals should be fostered.

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