NASSP Bulletin

Under the provisions of the IDEA school officials may, and should, take action to change a disruptive student's placement before the situation escalates into one that requires reactive disciplinary measures. The very purpose of the IDEA is to address a student's disabilities and that includes disabilities that may cause a student to misbehave.

Religious activity in public schools has become a major issue in the 1990s as result of the Equal Access Act and Lamb's Chapel, but neither has eliminated the Establishment Clause as a viable concern for public school officials. Despite indications that student religious expression is protected to the same extent as other forms of free speech, legitimate concerns still exist re garding public school endorsement of religion.

Since the mid-1980s judicial decisions have broadened the discretion of school authorities to restrict student expression, and the category of protected student expression is smaller than it was in the 1970s. While some limitations on student expression are necessary to main tain a proper educational environment, any constraint must be justi fied by a sound educational rationale.

Amid the growing tide of violence and drugs in U.S. schools during the past 20 years, educators have grown increasingly concerned about the safety of students and staff members. In response to this problem, administrators have turned to searches of students, their lockers, and their possessions. As might have been expected, these searches have led to litigation over whether the Fourth Amendment's prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures applies to public schools.

When principals are chatting about school activities, what are the "hot" topics? State championships? Beating the cross-town rival last weekend? Law? When hard reality sets in, the conversation invariably turns to law. Principals live with legal issues every day.

Principals must understand the concept of negligence, in anticipating and responding both to situations that could lead to injuries to stu dents, and to lawsuits against them as agents of the school and the school system. A study of negligence requires understanding the term and its implications, how to prevent negligence from occurring, and how to defend one's action if prevention fails.

Do high school students' freedom of speech rights end at the school-house door? Are student publications protected by the First Amendment? Do high school principals have the right to remove objec tionable articles from their school newspapers? These questions are among many raised following the Supreme Court's 1988 ruling in Hazelwood School District v Kuhlmeier.

It is important to have the opening day of school run smoothly. Principals need to be well organized and have everything in place and ready to go. The following checklist offers principals a way to determine if all bases are covered.

This study compares academic performance, behavior, and commitment of basketball and volleyball athletes and non-athletes in a rural Canadian high school. It compares mid-term and final grades in each school discipline; visits to an administrator for disciplinary visits; and demerit points for improper behavior; and estimates the mean weekly time commitment for athletes in each sport. The study provides support for the benefits of athletic programs at the high school level.

An April 1998 NASSP Bulletin article by Williamson and Johnston, "Listening to Four Communities: Parent and Public Concerns About Middle Level Schools," reported the findings of a study in four diverse communities. What can be done to respond to those concerns?

Expectations for principals as the "teachers of adults" is increasing. The 4MAT instructional model provides a user-friendly, research-based structure for principals to design powerful retreats and workshops. Using the 4MAT workshop helps principals act as instructional leaders to increase leadership behavior among all educators in their school.

The economic consequences that result from choice sound the biggest alarm for opponents. Can we allow the poorer schools to continue a downward spiral? Will the gulf between the educational haves and have-nots grow even wider? Will choice options reinforce old patterns of discrimination?