Assesses the social and environmental problems of 132 patients seen in a primary care clinic at a university-affiliated Veterans Affairs (VA) medical center. Prevalent social problems included financial difficulties, personal stress, family problems, legal concerns, and employment concerns. Findings suggest a clear need for social work…

Legal liability is likely to increase when a community college allows high school students to enroll in college courses or when college staff work within the schools. This document describes strategies for minimizing legal liability while allowing high school students to further their education by taking community college courses. (PGS)

Zero-tolerance policies should not be used solely to rid the school of troubled students needing special counseling and mentoring. Administrators should involve teachers, parents, community leaders, and student representatives in formulating such policies. School-safety considerations and student rights must be balanced. (MLH)

Examines the growing practice of colleges and universities incorporating non-academic misconduct within the scope of student conduct codes. Discusses relevant cases, standards applied by courts when students challenged sanctions, and "in loco parentis" justification for sanctions. Concludes that such policies must be clearly tied to the…

Under federal statutes, many employment practices are legally questionable: targeting certain positions for one sex only; using racial quotas to reach diversity goals; using non-job-related tests as pre-employment screening devices; employing discriminatory employment policies; using non-job-related disabilities to deny employment; and inquiring…

The last 2 decades of the 20th century have witnessed a growing movement to reform the American education system. While people debate why and how reform should be accomplished new initiatives are being developed and applied in many different areas: student performance standards, curricular innovation, assessment, accountability, professional…

This paper presents an outline and analysis of federal legislation and court decisions relevant to the exclusion of students with disabilities by school systems through the filing of delinquency and other petitions based upon in-school behavior. In many cases the behavior is related to the disability and/or to the consequences of the school…

This book brings together extensive research and writing on sexual harassment in higher education examining it as a misuse of authority by male faculty members and as a confluence of power relations and sexism in institutions stratified by sex. The thirteen contributions are grouped into four sections the first of which, "Sexual Harassment:…

This chapter examines cases reported during 1990 that involved tort claims within the school context. A tort is a civil wrong, other than breach of contract, for which a court provides relief in the form of damages. Included are cases involving school officials, school employees, students, and in some instances others visiting school grounds. Tort…

The purpose of preemployment activities in a public school district is to obtain the person best qualified. This monograph discusses legal considerations in the preemployment process, with a focus on avoiding impermissible inquiries and the effect of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The key question to be asked when examining an application…

Many activities that take place in the library, including circulation and interlibrary loan and reserve requests, result in the creation of records linking clients to specific kinds of information. Several groups, including law enforcement officials, have attempted on various occasions to gain access to these records. This research paper provides…

This book discusses ways in which special-interest groups influence the content of textbooks used in public and private schools throughout the United States. The book focuses on recent federal lawsuits involving attempts to censor or ban reading, literature, science, and social studies textbooks. Recreating the story behind each lawsuit, the book…

The Mass Media section of the proceedings of this conference of journalism historians contains the following 10 papers: "Broadcast News, Cable TV and the Telcos: A Historical Examination of the Rhetorical Forces Affecting the Electronic Distribution of Information to the American Television Public" (John E. Craft and Frances R. Matera);…

The increasing presence of electronic materials, databases, and networks in society's institutions raises a number of new questions related to copyrighted and intellectual property in cyberspace environments (e.g., How will the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law and practice be extended to electronic situations?). Such questions have…

This comprehensive course from the Practical Nursing series of competency-based curricula is designed to prepare students for employment by systematically guiding the students' learning activities from the simple to the complex. These materials prepare health care practitioners to function effectively in the rapidly changing health care industry.…