School Law Research Paper Directions
Each candidate will write a school law research paper examining a specific area of the law as it pertains
to the administration of public schools. Papers are to be written using Publications Manual of the APA,
7th Ed. as the authority for style and documentation. To assist students, a one page summary providing
commonly used citation forms for legal papers in APA is available on Blackboard. Papers are to be at
least ten and no more than 12 pages (not including title page or reference section) in length. Papers will
consist of four sections: an introduction, discussion of relevant statutory and case law, application of
legal principles to school administration in light of applicable NELP Elements and Oklahoma
Administrator Competencies listed on page 2 of the syllabus, and a conclusions section. For this
assignment, each student will need to do the following:
1. Identify a major area of the law (e.g., free speech, establishment clause, torts) about which to
write.
2. Narrow your topic. For example, search and seizure could be narrowed based on information
sources, objects of the search, or search method.
3. Locate applicable statutory and case law.
4. Read and analyze all materials from step three.
5. Begin writing. Be sure to discuss applications of legal principals to the NELP Standards a reflected
in the rubric.
