Abstract
To understand how students interpret their student handbook policies, Salkin and Shenkel used both content analysis and focus groups. The content analysis focused on language taken from randomly selected student handbooks from across the country. Once located, the handbook/code was reviewed for any text that indicated policy related to student speech/expression and student media or press: language specifically addressing the existence of the students’ rights, including dress code. These sections were copied into a readability calculator. After these quantitative data were gathered, Salkin and Shenkel went into high school classrooms, giving students the same handbook language for reading and discussion. Those interpretations were evaluated for recurring themes and concepts.
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Notes
- 1.
See, e.g. Scott v. Napa Valley Unified Sch. Dist., No. 26-37082 (Calif. Super. Ct. Napa Co. prelim. injunction granted Jul. 2, 2007), in which a California court rejected a school dress code because it restricted student opportunities for expression.
- 2.
Readability calculators are not consistent—there are dozens available online, and the same text element submitted to each one may result in different scores. The readability calculator selected, http://www.online-utility.org/english/readability_test_and_improve.jsp, was chosen because it was recommended by both the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) Education Committee (see http://ala13.ala.org/files/ala13/UnderstandingLevelingHandout.pdf) and the Harvard School of Public Health (http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/healthliteracy/practice/innovative-actions/).
- 3.
Employment & Career Development Division, “Readability for Job Orders,” Washington State Employment Security Department website (2011).
- 4.
Julie L. Fitzgerald & Marley W. Watkins, “Parents’ Rights in Special Education: The Readability of Procedural Safeguards,” Exceptional Child 72, no. 4 (2006): 501.
- 5.
IRB (Institutional Review Board) approval was secured before the focus groups were held, and all students completed consent forms (if 18 or older) or assent forms plus parental consent forms (if younger than 18). Student participants were promised confidentiality for their participation, but no other incentives were offered.
- 6.
Tacoma Public Schools (Wash.), “Student Rights, Responsibilities and Regulations” (2010).
- 7.
Bellingham Public Schools (Wash.), “Family Handbook and Calendar” (2015).
References
ALSC Education Committee, “Understanding Leveling Systems,” American Library Association website (2013).
Bellingham Public Schools (Wash.), “Family Handbook and Calendar” (2015).
Employment & Career Development Division, “Readability for Job Orders,” Washington State Employment Security Department website (2011).
Fitzgerald, J. L., & Watkins, M. W., “Parents’ Rights in Special Education: The Readability of Procedural Safeguards,” Exceptional Child 72, no. 4 (2006): 497–510.
Harvard School of Public Health, “Assessing and Developing Health Materials,” Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health website (n.d., last visited May 15, 2016).
“Readability Calculator,” Online-Utility.org (last visited May 15, 2016).
Scott v. Napa Valley Unified Sch. Dist., No. 26-37082 (Calif. Super. Ct. Napa Co. prelim. injunction granted Jul. 2, 2007)
Tacoma Public Schools (Wash.), “Student Rights, Responsibilities and Regulations” (2010).
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Salkin, E., Shenkel, L. (2017). Approaching the Question. In: Student Speech Policy Readability in Public Schools. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44132-0_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44132-0_4
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