The Case Law on Student Teachers' Rights

Abstract

The article provides a concise and up-to-date synthesis of the published case law where a student teacher was the plaintiff, or suing party, and the defendant was an institution of higher education and/or the cooperating local school district. There were 28 of these court decisions, and the outcomes favored the defendant institutions in 23 of them (82%). The remaining cases were mostly inconclusive or were limited victories for the student teacher, serving as less-than-robust precedents. The court cases fall under three broad categories: Admission and placement of student teachers, accounting for 6 of the cases (21%); conditions of student teaching, accounting for 4 of the court decisions (14%); and dismissal of student teachers, accounting for 18 of the court cases (64%). Across the three categories, constitutional claims amounted to the predominant avenue of litigation against school districts and those institutions of higher education that were public, whereas breach of contract was the primary basis of litigation against private higher education institutions. Helping to fill a gap in the professional literature for student teachers and educational institutions, this study serves as a step forward for institutional policies and practices of preventive law and for curricular material in teacher preparation programs, including case studies based on these published precedents.