Field Experience Activities

The outcome of any court case is only a portion of the story. The cases that are discussed in this chapter have changed and shaped education as we know and understand it, and they continue to influence education in the United States. To take one example, what was the case of Plessy v. Ferguson really about? You may be surprised.

Use the following questions to guide your inquiry into the cases:

1 Who were the primary litigants in each case?

2 What was their complaint?

3 What was the vote on the final decision?

4 What rule of law was the basis for the majority opinion?

Portfolio Task

Laws are much more complex than the short descriptions we were able to provide in this chapter. You might be surprised at how involved a law can be.

Although there are many legislative acts (that are far too lengthy to download), the Internet provides many sources of information for you to see how laws are formed, and what types of provisions are included in legislation. Choose a law in the text that you want to research.

You could try beginning your search with the U.S. Government Printing Office's Web site.

A search using the terminology "public laws" will help you to find many other sites.

1 What have you found in a law that you would not have expected otherwise?

2 What other legislation was included with the law that you researched?