Claims alleging educational malpractice by schools have traditionally been driven by sub-standard student outcomes through alleged school failure to correctly diagnosis learning disabilities, adequately address learning difficulties and impart basic literacy skills or other specific professional errors, such as the omission of curriculum or incorrect calculation of student assessment marks. Courts have almost consistently rejected these claims, not always because of a lack of individual merit, but because of public policy considerations and unwillingness to prescribe education standards.
Universities are protected by professional liability, which is another way of saying they have insurance for legal claims filed against them by students attending
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The idea followed by courts in the U.S. and Canada seems to be that the courts are ill-equipped to include themselves in day-to-day educational decisions to determine what should or should not be taught in a specific curriculum and how well is “good enough.” The problem is that acknowledgment of educational malpractice claims would certainly turn the courts into “education police,” opening the doors for litigation and forcing judges to sit in day-to-day review of specific academic choices, a responsibility the courts are ill-suited to carry out (Sigurdson, …show more content…
These standards could open the door to educational malpractice. If the government establishes, and schools follow, some reasonable standard of care for colleges and universities, courts could overcome their public policy grounds for refusing to decide what constitutes a reasonable standard of care and enforce the standard without creating their own. Educational malpractice lawsuits could be confirmed if universal standards are written and adopted. When other businesses adopt standards, deviation from the industry-wide standards is used as evidence of negligence. This concept can easily apply in the education realm, and higher education institutions may find themselves held to the developed
In the healthcare industry, medical malpractice has a history that extends way beyond the days of physicians carrying a black bag full of medication and remedies to treat patients. Health care has since evolved to digital technology that can detect and treat disease. However, before physicians had advanced machinery making medical diagnosis, doctors had their textbooks and medical judgment to rely on for treatment. Physicians are human and medical mistakes can happen, but should not happen due to negligence. With that said, medical malpractice lawsuits are not the latest trend in the United States. According to the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, medical malpractice lawsuits first appeared in the United States beginning in the 1800s. However, before the 1960s, legal claims for medical malpractice were rare, and had little impact on the practice of medicine. Since the 1960s the frequency of medical malpractice claims has increased; and today, lawsuits filed by aggrieved patients alleging malpractice by a physician are relatively common in the United States.
General education high school teacher, Michael Withers, failed to comply with his student’s Individual Education Plan (IEP). D.D. Doe’s IEP required tests to be read orally. Despite knowledge of this IEP and being instructed to follow the IEP by the superintendent, school principal, special education director, and special education teacher, Withers still refused to make the accommodations for D.D.’s handicapping condition. As a result, D.D. failed the history class. His parents filed charges against Withers, arguing that D.D was not afforded the right to a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) promised to all students by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). They also filed a claim for injuctive relief against the Taylor County Board of Education to enforce the laws that protect handicapped students.
The Gaskin Settlement Agreement is an agreement between a group of families and advocacy organizations who filed a class action lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) on behalf of a group of children with disabilities in 1994. This agreement does not change a student’s placement, program, or IEP in any manner. Only the IEP team has the authority to make modifications that will impact a student’s IEP. The main goal of this settlement is to make sure that IEP teams will determine if the goals in a student’s IEP may be implemented in a general education setting with supplementary aids and services prior to considering an environment that is more restrictive in nature. The elements of this case were designed to help increase the capacity of school districts to provide related services, SDI that is appropriate, supplementary aids and services, and supports to students who have disabilities that are placed in general education classrooms. The PDE lists many important elements of the Settlement Agreement to be aware of...
Explain the issue or dilemma using information from the readings in the book and other sources.
Groves, S. L., & Groves, D. L. (1981). Professional Discretion and Personal Liability of Teachers in Relation to Grades and Records. Education, 101(4), 335-340.
Medical malpractice has become a controversial social issue. From a doctor’s standpoint, decisions and preventative actions can alter the medical malpractice lawsuits filed against them. In order to protect their career and professional life medical malpractice insurance is available. Medical professional liability insurance, sometimes known as medical malpractice insurance, is one type of professional liability insurance. “Professional liability refers to liability that arises from a failure to use due care and the standard of care expected from a person in a particular profession, in this case a doctor, dentist, nurse, hospital or other health-related organization” (Brandenburg, 2014).
Providing appropriate public education to qualified students has been federally mandated since 1975, but is still a challenging and often controversial matter in which the public has voiced concern. One reason for which the public’s concern has been provoked is that it is reported in low-incidence categories such as deafness or blindness, which is usually diagnosed by medical professionals, there is no indications of disproportion (Donovan and Cross, 1). Instances in which there are higher proportions of minority students occurs more so in the high-incidence categories of mental retardation (MMR), emotional disturbance (ED), and...
The act of medical responsibility originated in Rome and England dating back to the time of 2030 BC. The act states that a learned professional should always care with responsibility and care toward their profession. Around the year of 1200 AD, Roman law considered medical malpractice to be wrong and expanded their views about it all throughout Europe. It was said by the Code of Hammibal that if a person commits malpractice knowingly or unknowingly they would lose their job, hand, and an eye. Malpractice had also occurred throughout the U.S around the 19th century, due to the negligence of the state’s governments. Medical malpractice litigation has since been sustained for a century and a half by an interacting combination of 6 principal factors.” “Three of these factors are medical: the innovative pressures on American medicine, the spread of uniform standards, and the advent of medical malpractice liability insurance.” “Three are legal factors: contingent fees, citizen juries, and the nature of tort pleading in the United State.” (Mohr). The U.S is very familiar with malpractice b...
Most controversies over education are centered around the question of how strictly standards should be upheld. The concern over whether or not flunking students is appropriate or even in the best interest of the student is a widely discussed topic. The argument often begins with students just starting school where the question of standardized testing for kindergartners arises. The majority of people are actually against such testing because they feel that a child who is labeled as a failure at such an early age may be permanently damaged (Bowen 86). The worry over the failure issue is further traced to educators who feel children just entering school are not fully prepared. Teachers are faced with kindergarten students who do not know their addresses, colors, and sometimes even first and last names (An ‘F’ 59).
When evaluating medical malpractice, this can be performed by any healthcare professional. It is easy to classify this to be misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, delayed treatment, even not taking the time to evaluate a patient properly. When practicing medicine it is important that all measures be taken when a patient is showing signs of infection or having any adverse reaction to medication. In the case study below this is a prime example of the importance of checking patient progression.
Negligence, as defined in Pearson’s Business Law in Canada, is an unintentional careless act or omission that causes injury to another. Negligence consists of four parts, of which the plaintiff has to prove to be able to have a successful lawsuit and potentially obtain compensation. First there is a duty of care: Who is one responsible for? Secondly there is breach of standard of care: What did the defendant do that was careless? Thirdly there is causation: Did the alleged careless act actually cause the harm? Fourthly there is damage: Did the plaintiff suffer a compensable type of harm as a result of the alleged negligent act? Therefore, the cause of action for Helen Happy’s lawsuit will be negligence, and she will be suing the warden of the Peace River Correctional Centre, attributable to vicarious liability. As well as, there will be a partial defense (shared blame) between the warden and the two employees, Ike Inkster and Melvin Melrose; whom where driving the standard Correction’s van.
There are pros to standardized examinations as tools for gaining information about student’s literacy strengths and weaknesses that can influence instruction. A pro to standardized examinations is that every student in the same state will take the same tests. This allows a precise comparison between schools. There are negatives to this comparing schools in this manner. These are that some schools or specific educators are obligated to teach to the test. Educators are suffering from an extreme amount of pressure to prove they are effective educators. Regrettably, the primary statistic judged is the success of their student’s performance on these standardized examinations. Some school reprimand there educator if too many students fail thus, scaring educators to teach to the test.
Alfie Kohn, author of The Case against Standardized Testing, recalls a specific incident of how children are being cheated out of valuable class time. He states that a school in Massachusetts used a remarkable unit, for a middle-school class, where students chose an activity and extensively researched it, and reported or taught, it to the class. This program has had to be removed from the course curriculum in order to devote enough time to teaching prescribed material for their standardized tests.
Review the scenario below. Consider the legal principles influencing the likelihood of any successful action against Steve in negligence.
In 2006, there were many students who finished school not knowing how to read or write due to their disability and lack of help from the teachers. Another example of discrimination is when teachers put students in Special Education classes if they have hard time in just one subject. There are lots of students who would not need Special Education for this reason. There are a few reasons the school board may give for discriminating against students with disabilities. One, they may say that there are enough teachers compared to the students in the system. Two, they may say that the student isn’t trying hard enough. Third, they can say that the schools are actually doing all they can to help students with disabilities. And finally, they can say that the parents are not doing enough at home to help the student (Burns,