No abstract

No abstract

The practice of student retention has always been a controversial method of remediation. Consequently, with opponents of the practice arguing that retention is an ineffective alternative for at-risk youth and advocates charging that social promotion amounts to a failure to enforce meaningful academic standards, the courts have become involved in litigation concerning this issue. This article reviews several retention-related court decisions nationwide and suggests 10 best practices that school administrators can use when considering or implementing student retention policies.

While most public school principals and superintendents must be awarded annual or multi-year employment contracts by their school districts, such contracts offer little protection from reassignment to a lesser position or even from dismissal. Inadequate remedies for breach of employment contracts subject school administrators to working solely at the pleasure of their school boards.

This article concerns two seemingly antagonistic Court decisions— Sante Fe Independent School District v. Jane Doe, 13 Fla. Law. W. Fed. S425; and Adler v. Duval County School Board, 13 Fla. Law. W. Fed. C460. While the Sante Fe decision struck down a school prayer school board policy, the Duval County decision allowed such policy. The authors seek to reconcile these two court decisions and offer a short history of prayer in U.S. public schools.