Abstract
Salkin and Shenkel located student handbooks or codes of conduct for three randomly selected high schools from 15 states, resulting in an overall sample of 45. These handbooks were plugged into a readability calculator in order to reveal Fog index, Coleman–Liau index, Flesch–Kincaid, and Automated Readability Index. Key takeaways from the numerical analysis showed that text discussing student’s rights to expression or media is infrequently included and often crafted at a grade level higher than high school. Qualitative analysis of the content showed that there is strong deference to Supreme Court precedents in the rationale behind student speech policies.
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Notes
- 1.
Readability. Webster’s-Dictionary.org (n.d.).
- 2.
However, the median word count was 75, indicating an outlier effect.
- 3.
Tinker 393 U.S. at 509 (1969).
- 4.
Everett Public Schools (Wash.), “Student Responsibilities & Rights Policies” (2014).
- 5.
Twin Valley School District (Pa.), “TVHS Student Handbook” (2014).
- 6.
Palmyra-Eagle Area School District (Wis.), “Palmyra-Eagle High School Student Handbook” (2011).
- 7.
Pomeroy Junior-Senior High School (Wash.), “Pirate Log Student/Parent Handbook” (2014).
- 8.
West Bridgewater Public Schools (Mass.), “Student Handbook” (2014).
- 9.
Hazelwood 484 U.S. at 271.
- 10.
Del Norte School District C-7 (Colo.), “High/Middle School Student Handbook” (2014).
- 11.
If they actually do so—much like the question of how often people read terms and use policy before clicking “I agree” online—is a question for another day.
- 12.
Spence v. Washington (418 U.S. 405, 1974) describes the difference between “expression” and “conduct” well: we have expression that is open to First Amendment protection if “an intent to convey a particularized message was present, and in the surrounding circumstances the likelihood was great that the message would be understood by those who viewed it.” Spence at 410–11.
References
Del Norte School District C-7 (Colo.), “High/Middle School Student Handbook” (2014).
Everett Public Schools (Wash.), “Student Responsibilities & Rights Policies” (2014).
Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260 (1988)
Palmyra-Eagle Area School District (Wis.), “Palmyra-Eagle High School Student Handbook” (2011).
Pomeroy Junior-Senior High School (Wash.), “Pirate Log Student/Parent Handbook” (2014).
Readability. Webster’s-Dictionary.org (n.d.).
Spence v. Washington, 418 U.S. 405 (1974).
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969).
Twin Valley School District (Pa.), “TVHS Student Handbook” (2014).
West Bridgewater Public Schools (Mass.), “Student Handbook” (2014).
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Salkin, E., Shenkel, L. (2017). Readability by the Numbers. In: Student Speech Policy Readability in Public Schools. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44132-0_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44132-0_5
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