State Regulation vs Academic Freedom

From: David H Kirshner (dkirsh@lsu.edu)
Date: Thu Apr 10 2003 - 15:37:34 PDT


XMCA Colleagues.

In parallel with many other U.S. states, we in Louisiana recently have
undergone extensive revision of our teacher certification programs
(undergraduate and graduate) to make them conform to new licensure
requirements promulgated by the Louisiana Department of Education and the
Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE). Now the Board of
Regents which oversees higher education in Louisiana, in conjunction with
BESE, has issued a set of prescriptive guidelines for our non-certification
masters programs. These guidelines are intrusive, including prescriptions
for the structuring of specializations (which currently are
unstructured--negotiated individually), and for the inclusion of
"performance indicators" for each course description.

Our Department is struggling with how to respond to what appears to be a
clear infringement of our academic freedom. We would appreciate finding out
if colleagues in other U.S. states or other national jurisdictions are
grappling with similar problems.

Thanks.
David

_____________________
David Kirshner
Department of Curriculum & Instruction
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge LA 70803-4728
(225) 578-2332 (225) 578-9135 (fax)
dkirsh@lsu.edu



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