EDAM 5322 780: Public School Law

Incomplete Grades:

Incomplete grades are given at the discretion of the faculty of record. Candidates who are passing and have incomplete work (e.g., a term paper, examination, or other required work; completed 95% of the coursework) must collaborate with the faculty of record to obtain an “Incomplete.” As such, candidates are responsible for obtaining the Incomplete Contract form, completing the appropriate portions of the form, and meeting with the faculty of record to complete the contract. Candidates must sign the Incomplete Contract along with the faculty member specifying assignments to be completed and the due date. Thereafter, the faculty member will initiate the contract by submitting it to the chair and dean, and ultimately the University Registrar’s Office.

Failure to sign the contract, and have it on file in the Office of the University Registrar, will result in the “I” being converted to an “F” through an administrative action by the University Registrar. The grade of “I” may be removed under certain conditions:

• If candidates elect to complete the course, they may, within the time specified in the contract, but not exceeding 12 months from the date the “I” was recorded, complete the work in the course andrequest that the faculty member submit a change of grade form to the University Registrar.
• If the candidate elects not to complete the course and the signed contract, as agreed, within a period of 12 months, the “I” will be converted to a grade of “F” through an administrative action by the University Registrar.
• A candidate may not register for a course for which a current grade of “I” exists.

Dropping a Course:

Candidates are responsible for dropping a course before the drop date. Faculty are not responsible for, and cannot drop candidates from courses.

Repeating a Course:

Courses applicable to a graduate degree may not be repeated for course credit, unless prescribed during the readmission process.

TurnItIn:

Candidates may be required to submit work to TurnItIn. Candidates are encouraged to submit their work to TurnItIn before they submit the assignment for a grade in order to view the similarity index.  To do this, candidates, go to “Optional Settings”; select “No-repository” and submit.

Professional Expectations:

Preparing to become a highly effective educator requires a great deal of commitment, time, and preparation on the candidate’s part. Educators are expected to be: respectful, civil, well-prepared, communicate effectively, meet deadlines, be receptive and responsive to feedback, and be fair and ethical. Thus, candidates are expected to be equipped to participate in all class activities and discussions and remain for a duration necessary to participate and complete assignments. All coursework is expected to be word processed (unless announced otherwise), proofread, spell checked, and grammar checked. (Candidates needing help with Standard English should contact

I.           Course Outline and Expectations

Participation/Attendance

Participation and assignments are expected on time and by the due date.

Classroom Response Time and Feedback on Assignments:

Students are  expected to respond to instructor within 24 hours when exchanging course emails/conversations..

Late/Missing Tasks/Assignments Policy:

You are welcome to turn in assignments early. All assignments for the course are due in the Blackboard website course page on their respective due dates that are reflected in the assignment section of this syllabus. NO LATE WORK will be accepted without prior written notice and upon approval by the professor due to medical and/or family emergencies with documentation. If there are extenuating circumstances, you need to please contact me immediately using your TAMIU Dusty email. 

VoiceThreads (Discussions). The purpose of the VoiceThread is to enhance and develop student community and cooperative feedback. A total of 4 VoiceThreads will be required of all students which will include recording voice and video responses directed to the class instructor and to two classmates. The purpose of the VoiceThread discussion questions is to provide students with an opportunity to reflect on the class topics and respond to classmates’ posts in relation to class topics. Students will be expected to respond to the discussion prompt and in addition respond to at least one of their peers to obtain full credit for a discussion grade.

Reflection/Analysis Papers. Students will write papers based on specific instructions related to the textbook, video, articles or SoftChalk lesson.

Activities/Assignments. Students will complete activities/assignments based on specific instructions related to the textbook, video, articles or SoftChalk lesson.

Student Course References/Bibliography:

Students please follow the American Psychological Association Manual (APA) 7th Edition for reflections and class question(s) summaries.

Contemporary Resources Related to Texas Educator Preparation:

The purpose for providing web-links to important field-related information is to ensure that TAMIU College of Education graduate students are well-informed and prepared with the latest information pertinent to their respective professional role.

• Current Academic Excellence Indicator System (TAPR & AEIS ) Reports
• Current Texas Administrative Code (TEC) Policies
• Current Texas Penal Code Policies    Current Family Code Policies
• Texas Educator Certification Texas Examination of Educator Standards TExES Program Principal (068)

Appendix D, Student Learning Outcomes Chapter 149 Commissioner’s Rules Concerning Educator Standards Subchapter BB. Administrator Standards

Academic Honesty

Please visit the College of Education Appendix

Course Structure

Students will log into Blackboard on a weekly basis to interact with the course/course materials. Students will initially visit the Start Here and complete the Meet and Greet Discussion forum.

Students are responsible for reading through the weekly modules, Modules 1-7 located on the Blackboard Course Menu, then completing weekly assignment for each module. Students can use the Course Q & A located on the Blackboard Course Menu to ask any questions (for the whole class to see) or can email/Blackboard Course Mail the professor for individual questions or support. See About Your Faculty for Office Hours and Contact Information.

Minimum Technical Skills Expected

When participating in distance education courses, it is vital to consider the technology involved in order to have a successful course. Students in distance education should have knowledge of basic computer and Internet skills, as mentioned on the Instructional Technology and Distance Education Services’ webpage. Additional skills required for this course include knowing how to use VoiceThread and Turnitin.

Accommodations/Accessibility Policy

Texas A&M International University seeks to provide reasonable accommodations for all qualified persons with disabilities. This University will adhere to all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations as required to afford equal education opportunity. It is the student's responsibility to register with the Director of Student Counseling and to contact the faculty member in a timely fashion to arrange for suitable accommodations. For more information, contact the online at Office of Disability Services for Students (DSS), or via phone at 956.326.2230, or by visiting the staff at the Senator Judith Zaffirini Student Success Center, room 138. A link to the Disabilities Services for Students site has also been included under the "Resources" tab inside the course.

Student Support Resources

The University wishes to have all students succeed in their courses. To provide support to our students, an array of services in the areas of technology support, academic support, student support, and accessibility support may be found at the University. For more information, visit Instructional Technology and Distance Education Services’ page on University Resources and Support Services.

Student-Instructor Communication Policy and Response Time

•            Course Messages/Emails

Email, Blackboard course messages, and the Course Q & A forum are checked twice daily, typically in the morning and evening, and responses are sent within 24 hours unless delayed by travel or illness, in which case students will be notified.

• Course Q & A (located on the Course Menu – fka Muddiest Point)

If you have a question about the material, post it in the Course Q & A area. Using this discussions forum gives everyone an opportunity to gain knowledge from the question and possibly provide assistance to each other. If someone else posts a question and you know the answer or have a suggestion, feel free to respond. However, I do insist on respect between students. So, when you respond, please be respectful.

•            Assignments and Assessments

Feedback for all assignments will be within 72 hours of the assignment deadline unless travel or illness delays grading for a short time. Students will be given notification of any delay.

Course Communication Guidelines (Netiquette)

There are course expectations concerning etiquette or how we should treat each other online. It is vital that we consider these values as we communicate with one another. Visit Instructional Technology and Distance Education Services’ web page on Netiquette for further instruction.

Netiquette Expectations for Peer-to-Peer and Faculty-to-Student

TAMIU eLearning team provides a web page on netiquette guidelines that can be found in the course menu under Student Resources and inside the Technology Skills and Training Folder (see link in 1st paragraph of Course Communication Guidelines (Netiquette).

The following are additional netiquette guidelines presented for your review:

When participating in online discussions, emails and other forms of communication in this course students are expected to:

• Participate: This is a shared learning environment. No lurking in the cyberspace background. It is not enough to login and read the discussion thread of others. For the maximum benefit to all, everyone mustcontribute.
• Report Glitches: Discussion forums are electronic. They break. If for any reason you experience difficulty participating, please call, email, or otherwise inform me of the issue. Chances are others are having the same problem.

• Help Others: You may have more experience with online discussion forums than the person next to you. Give them a hand. Show them it’s not so hard. They’re really going to appreciate it!
• Be Patient: Read everything in the discussion thread before replying. This will help you avoid repeating something someone else has already contributed. Acknowledge the points made with which you agree and suggest alternatives for those with which you don’t.
• Be Brief: You want to be clear—and to articulate your point—without being preachy or pompous. Be direct. Stay on point. Don’t lose yourself, or your readers, in overly wordy sentences or paragraphs.
• Use Proper Writing Style: This is a must. Write as if you were writing a term paper. Correct spelling, grammatical construction and sentence structure are expected in every other writing activity associated with scholarship and academic engagement. Online discussions are no different.
• Cite Your Sources: Another big must! If your contribution to the conversation includes the intellectual property (authored material) of others, e.g., books, newspaper, magazine, or journal articles—online or in print—they must be given proper attribution.
• Emoticons and Texting: Social networking and text messaging has spawned a body of linguistic shortcuts that are not part of the academic dialogue. Please refrain from :-) faces and c u l8r’s.
• Be repestful: Use no language that is—or that could be construed to be—offensive toward others. 
• No YELLING! Step carefully. Beware the electronic footprint you leave behind. Using bold uppercase letters is bad form, like stomping around and yelling at somebody (NOT TO MENTION BEING HARD ON THE EYE).
• No Flaming! Criticism must be constructive, well-meaning, and well-articulated. Please, no tantrums. Rants directed at any other contributor are simply unacceptable and will not be tolerated. The same goes for profanity. The academic environment expects higher-order language.
• Lastly, Remember: You Can't Un-Ring the Bell. Language is your only tool in an online environment. Be mindful. How others perceive you will be largely—as always—up to you. Once you've hit the send button, you've rung the bell.

Review your written posts and responses to ensure that you’ve conveyed exactly what you intended. This is an excellent opportunity to practice your proofreading, revision, and rewriting skills—valuable assets in the professional world for which you are now preparing.

Netiquette: Ground Rules for Online Discussions by Peter Connor is licensed under a CreativeCommons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

II.           Technology Requirements

Computer/Technology Requirements

When participating in distance education courses, it is vital to consider the technology involved in order to have a successful course. Online students will need regular access to a personal computer that runs on a broadband Internet connection.

See the College of Education – Section XII below:

II.              University/College/Department Policies

Policies of the College of Education (COE) (Required on all COE Syllabi)

Graduate Policies

Mission Statement

The mission of the College of Education is to prepare highly effective; culturally competent educational and clinical professionals who are equipped to assume leadership roles in a global society.

“Changing the perception!”

Academic Integrity

As a member in an academic community, candidates in the COE at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) are expected to exhibit a high level of honesty and integrity in their pursuit of higher education, be mature, self-directed and able to manage their own affairs. Candidates who are unwilling to abide by these basic expectations will find themselves facing academic and/or disciplinary sanctions. Candidates are expected to share in the responsibility and authority with faculty and staff to challenge and make known acts that violate the TAMIU Honor Code. Please visit the Office of Student Conduct and Community Engagement website for the Honor Code.

TAMIU faculty have the discretion to impose grade penalties for infractions of the Honor Code as deemed necessary.

COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS:

The Copyright Act of 1976 grants to copyright owners the exclusive right to reproduce their works and distribute copies of their work. Works that receive copyright protection include published works such as a textbook. Copying a textbook (or other sources) without permission from the owner of the copyright may constitute copyright infringement. Civil penalties include damages up to $100,000; criminal penalties include a fine up to $250,000 and imprisonment.

Copyright laws do allow students and professors to make photocopies of copyrighted materials, but you may copy a limited portion of a work, such an article from a journal or a chapter from a book for your own personal academic use or, in the case of a professor, for personal, limited classroom use. In general, the extent of your copying should not suggest that the purpose or the effect of your copying is to avoid paying for the materials. And, of course, you may not sell these copies for a profit. Thus, students who copy textbooks to avoid buying them or professors who provide photocopies of textbooks to enable students to save money are violating the law.

PLAGIARISM:

Plagiarism is the act of passing off some other person’s ideas, words, or work as one’s own, and includes, and is not limited to, the appropriation, buying, receiving as a “gift”, or obtaining, by any other means, another’s work for the submission of one’s own academic work. The candidate is responsible and held accountable for knowing and appropriately applying this definition. (See the

TAMIU Student Handbook, Section 7.01a for examples.) Plagiarism includes direct, paraphrase, and patchwork plagiarism. Finally, acts of plagiarism may constitute copyright infringement.

Avoiding plagiarism: Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL) provides materials on “Avoiding Plagiarism.”  Cheating:

Cheating is an act of deception in which candidates misrepresents mastered information related to an academic exercise. (See the TAMIU Student Handbook, Section 7.01b for examples.)

Scholastic Deficiency:

Candidates are highly encouraged to monitor their own progress throughout their coursework, as each is responsible for the grade earned. Midterm reports are not typically provided for graduate candidates.

A minimum grade point average of 3.0 (“B”) on a 4.0 point scale computed on all graduate work attempted must be maintained. If either of a cumulative GPA or the GPA for courses listed on the degree plan fall below the minimum of 3.000, candidates are considered to be scholastically deficient. If the minimum GPA is not attained by the end of subsequent semester of enrollment, the candidate will be dropped from graduate studies.

Notification of academic probation is through the Office of Graduate Studies and Research. No more than three (3) semester credit hours with a letter grade of “C” earned at this university will be accepted toward credit for a master’s degree. Candidates who receive a “D”, “F”, or more than one “C” for coursework listed on their degree plan will also be dropped from graduate studies. To continue in the program, candidates must reapply through the Office of Graduate Studies. Note: All current program and/or admission requirements must be met at readmission. For further information consult the Catalog and Graduate Handbook.

UConnect, TAMIU Email, and Dusty Alert:

Announcements are sent to candidates through TAMIU’s UConnect portal and TAMIU Dusty e-mail accounts, and Blackboard Course Messages as these are the official means of communicating course and university business with candidates and faculty. Checking UConnect and the TAMIU Dusty e-mail account and Blackboard Course Messages should become a regular routine. Missing important TAMIU e-mail or UConnect/Blackboard messages from a faculty member, chair or dean is not an accepted excuse or reason for not knowing. Candidates are encouraged to sign-up for Dusty Alert (see www.tamiu.edu) which is an instant cell phone text-messaging system allowing the University to communicate instantly with an on-campus emergency, something of immediate danger or a campus closing.

Technology Issues:

Issues with technology should be directed to the Office of Instructional Technology via email (hotline@tamiu.edu) or by calling Office of Information Technology (OIT) at 956-326-2310.

Accommodations for Candidates with Disabilities:

Texas A&M International University is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If you require academic accommodations, or you suspect you have a disability, you are responsible for registering with the Disabilities Services Coordinator (956) 326-2763 located in the Student Counseling Center (ZSC 138B).

Student Attendance and Leave of Absence (LOA) Policy:

As part of our efforts to assist and encourage all students towards graduation, TAMIU provides LOA’s for students, including pregnant/parenting students, in accordance with the Attendance Rule (Section 3.24) and the Student LOA Rule (Section 3.25) which includes the “Leave of Absence Request” form.  Both rules can be found in the TAMIU Student Handbook.

Under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, harassment based on sex, including harassment because of pregnancy or related conditions, is prohibited. A pregnant/parenting student must be granted a leave of absence (LOA) for as long as the student’s physician deems the absence medically necessary. Specifically, a pregnant/parenting student is afforded the following:

1. Submit work after a deadline that was missed because of a LOA due to pregnancy or childbirth.
2. If grading is based in part on class attendance or participation, earn the credits missed so that the student can be reinstated to the status held before the LOA.
3. At the conclusion of the LOA, return to the same academic and extracurricular status held when the LOA began.

Written Assignment Criteria:

Written materials should reflect candidates' knowledge of the content as well as the use of higher level thinking skills (i.e., analysis, interpretation, synthesis, and evaluation) and reflect correct spelling, punctuation, grammar, and usage. Written assignments/tasks must be word processed/typed and follow the most current addition of the American Psychological Association‘s Manual (APA) for style and format.

Previously Submitted Work:

The COE encourages original work to be developed and submitted for each course. As such, work from one course may not be submitted for another course. Work submitted from one course to another will not be accepted for credit and will earn a grade of zero.

Engagement:

Candidates are expected to engage in the online environment via Blackboard in a timely manner and remain for a duration of time necessary to participate and complete assignments. “Last Accessed” dates (the last date a student has entered the course electronically) may be monitored in all Blackboard courses. Candidates are held responsible for regularly checking Blackboard and their TAMIU email account for course-related matters.

Exams:

Exams at the graduate level are at the discretion of the faculty member and will be noted in the course syllabus. All final exams are given on the day specified during final week, according to the University Schedule.