ADMPS 3114

Competent Management of Pupil Services

Fall 2016 (Term 2171): September 10, October 8, November 5 and December 3

Mary Margaret Kerr and Ira Weiss, Instructors

Attorneys from Weiss Burkardt Kramer, LLC, Guest Instructors

5702 WWPH,8am -12 noon

Overview

Just as district leaders recognize that they cannot work alone when legal issues arise, the best leaders also realize that they cannot support students solely with school-based resources. Rather, they must turn to community partners, create new alliances and resources, or fail. Therefore, this course will place special emphasis on nationally recognized models and processes for expanding district supports for students and their families.

This course covers two strands: a) student supports and b) the laws governing K-12 public schools in the arena of pupil services. You will practice skills you will need as district leaders, including leadership to prevent and address health, mental health, and safety crises. You will study the legal mandates for student support services (not including special education). These skills include identifying potential legal problems, addressing and resolving them, and interacting with attorneys and others in cases.

How the Course Is Organized

This course is largely a flipped classroom format. This means that we do background reading before class so we can use most of our class time to do simulations and case analyses.Exceptions will be two guest legal presentations.

What happens in a flipped classroom when students do not complete the readings? A few people talk and the others “pretend” they understand the discussion. The discussions never reach real depth, because not everyone is familiar with the terms and concepts. Misunderstandings about important strategies and regulations happen. These can affect our leadership and practicenegatively. In this course specifically, failure to study the assigned readings and complete preparatory exercises before coming to class will also result in poor performance in classroom exercises, including simulations.

Course Topics Outline:Log onto the course website to access information and expectations for each week. There you will find an overview, video clips, readings, presentations, and helpful resources.

DATE / LEGAL / HEALTH/MENTAL HEALTH/SAFETY INITIATIVE / PUBLIC COMMUNICATION IN CRISIS
September 10 / Preparing for depositions / Mapping stakeholders / Identifying audiences
October 8 / Giving depositions (simulation with attorneys) / Building support for an initiative / Message development for communication
November 5 / Investigations / Branding and marketing / In-box exercises
Press conference on legal/crisis issue
December 3 / PRESENTATIONS TO “SCHOOL BOARDS”

Course Textbooks

  • Kerr, M. M. (2016). School crisis prevention and intervention. Upper Saddle River, NJ, Waveland Publishing, Inc. Available through the Pitt Book Store, September 8. ***Do not purchase the Pearson version, which is out of print. Get the reprinted version that was just released ($31.00)
  • Pink, D. H. (2012).To sell is human: The surprising truth about moving others. Penguin. (We will study Chapter 7, The Pitch.) Available to read on line through Hillman Library at

How You Will Earn Your Grade in this Course

According to the University’s definition of a credit hour, a three-credit course should have 42 contact hours, where a contact hour is 50 minutes of instruction. In addition, students are expected to spend 1.5 hours outside of class for each in-class hour. This includes reading, completing weekly exercises, and working on quizzes and your major project.

Incomplete course grades (G) will be given only in emergencies, with requested documentation such as a note from a physician. “The G grade signifies unfinished course work due to extenuating personal circumstances. Students assigned G grades are required to complete course requirements no later than one year after the term or session in which the course was taken. Once the deadline has passed, the G grade will remain on the record, and the student will be required to reregister for the course if it is needed to fulfill requirements for graduation.”

1. Active engagement, contribution to others’ learning, simulation performance: You will be graded on your performance in each class. Specifically you may earn points for being actively engaged in the activities as evidenced by active listening, note taking, asking questions, offering feedback and help to others, showing preparedness by citing the readings for that class, and being punctual.

Your performance in simulations will be evaluated on your ability to stay in your assigned role, deliver persuasive communications that best reflect your assigned role, show your understanding of the readings, and thoughtfully accept feedback from your instructors. Simulations will focus on school and community crises, public communications, and your school health or suicide prevention initiatives. Points possible: 50 x 4 classes=200

2. Legal Case Analyses: Competent oversight of pupil services requires considerable legal knowledge. Therefore, you will receive legal resources for developing your expertise. To ensure that you understand the regulations and their application, you will analyze cases and outline actions that adhere to the regulations. Because these are graded assignments, please do not seek help from another individual to complete the legal cases. While you are completing a legal assignment to submit for grading, you are welcome to consult course readings and legal presentations. These case analyses will be due the last Tuesday of each month: September27, October25, and November29. Points possible: 50 x 3=150

3. Health/Mental Health/Safety Initiative: The major assignment calls on you to conduct a school health, mental health, and safety inventory,then draft a proposal that includes:

1. Statement of the problem (including data to make your case)

2. What do the experts say? Good practices in prevention (with references)

3. Implementation table

4. FAQ

Lastly, you will “pitch” it during a simulated board meeting. Our final pitch will take place during our last class before an audience of individuals (including former school board members, community members, and your classmates) who will give you feedback. This project will be due in segments on October 25, and November 29. The final project will be due December 3. Points possible: 50 x 3 =150

We encourage you to submit work before the deadline so it does not pile up at the last minute.

Please enter these assignments, dates and times into your calendar:

Due Date / Assignment / Points Possible
In-class sessions / Active engagement in class activities, contributions to the learning of others, performance in simulations / 200
September 27, 11:59 pm / Legal case analyses, part 1 due; submit on-line. / 50
October 25, 11:59 pm / Health/Mental Health/Safety Initiative, part 1 due; submit on-line. / 50
October 25, 11:59 pm / Legal case analyses, part 2 due; submit online. / 50
November 29, 11:59 pm / Health/Mental Health/Safety Initiative, part 2 due; submit on-line. / 50
November 29, 11:59 pm / Legal case analyses, part 3 due; submit online. / 50
December 3, in class / Health/Mental Health/Safety Initiative, presentation / 50
Points Total / 500

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A-Z Guide to Course Policies and General Information

Academic Integrity: Students in this course will be expected to comply with the University of Pittsburgh's Policy on Academic Integrity. Any student suspected of violating this obligation for any reason during the semester will be required to participate in the procedural process, initiated at the instructor level, as outlined in the University Guidelines on Academic Integrity. This may include, but is not limited to, the confiscation of the examination of any individual suspected of violating University Policy. By enrolling in this course, you agree that you have read, understood, and accept the obligations of the University’s Students Rights Responsibilities. Detailed information is posted at Please click on the Academic Integrity section of the Course Website and follow the directions to complete this agreement on-line and submit it before the first class.

Allergies: Please let us know if you have any food allergies or dietary preferences. We bring snacks to class and want everyone to be healthy. Please do not wear perfume or cologne to class since some of us are sensitive to fragrance.

Attendance: Regular and prompt class attendance is an essential part of the educational experience. Although you are expected to attend all “in-class” sessions, working professional students sometimes find themselves in circumstances that cause them to miss class meetings. Therefore, exceptions may be made for work-related activities, illness, or valid emergencies. However, we expect you to exercise good judgment regarding attendance and absences. You are expected to accept full responsibility for ensuring that work does not suffer from absences.

Given the nature and importance of the simulations in this course, students with excused absences will be required to attend a makeup session and/or complete additional work scheduled when the instructors are available, either in person or using video technology.

Browser: To access the course Web site, please use Mozilla Firefox (a free downloadable browser available at This browser is most compatible with Course Web. If you choose a different browser such as Internet Explorer, you may run into problems with opening files, cutting and pasting documents, and uploading assignments.

Confidentiality: Information about workplaces may arise during discussions and questions. Please respect the confidentiality of the discussions by not sharing information without permission. The instructors will respect the confidentiality of the information shared with us. You are welcome to use pseudonyms for your district, school, or cases. Publicly available information will be used in case materials and simulations.

Course Assignments: The course is organized by four modules followed by a final assignment. Details of each module and assignment appear on the course web site.

Course Web: To access the course Web site, go to and log on using your Pitt user name and password. Alternatively, you can go to and access the Course Web site there. For help logging onto the course, call 412-624-HELP. This help is available 24/7. The instructors cannot assist you with log-on problems.

Disabilities: If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union, (412) 648-7890/(412) 383-7355 (TTY), as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course. We will be happy to work with you.

Emails: You can reach us at or

  • Use pitt.edu: You can email directly from the course web site or from your email. We may not answer e-mails that are not from a pitt.edu address, because of spam. Please be careful about this.
  • Tell us who you are and help us figure out what you need: In the subject line, it helps if you mention what you need, so we can look it up and respond faster. We cannot memorize all your monograms, so please sign all emails with your name!
  • Read the syllabus and any assignment instructions before posing a question.

We want to give you the individual feedback you need. Accordingly, we have guidelines that allow you to receive our feedback and help in a timely manner. We answer e-mails Monday through Friday, 8 am -6 pm Eastern time,throughout the course. We generally do not answer e-mails on weekends, holidays, or after hours. You can expect a response within 24 hours of your e-mail, as long as you follow the course guidelines. If you do not hear from us, please wait 24 hours and then send another e-mail, in case yours did not reach us.

Grades: See detailed explanation above. Your grades will be assigned based on the percentage of points you attain:

Letter Grade / Percentages
A+ / 98-100
A / 93-97
A- / 90-92
B+ / 88-89
B / 83-87
B- / 80-82
C+ / 78-79
C / 73-77
C- / 70-72
D+ / 68-69
F / <68

Grievance Procedures. The purpose of grievance procedures is to ensure the rights and responsibilities of faculty and students in their relationships with each other. When a student in ADMPS believes that a faculty member has not met his or her obligations (as an instructor or in another capacity) as described in the Academic Integrity Guidelines, the student should follow the procedure described in the Guidelines by (1) first trying to resolve the matter with the faculty member directly; (2) then, if needed, attempting to resolve the matter through conversations with theEdD chair and associate chair of the department, Dr. Charlene Trovato; (3) if needed, next talking to the associate dean of the school (Dr. Michael Gunzenhauser); and (4) if needed, filing a written statement of charges with the school-level academic integrity officer, Associate Dean Michael Gunzenhauser.

PowerPoints available to you on the course web site: The legal slide presentations are the copyrighted property of the WBK Law Firm and may not be used for any purpose other than this course. All course presentations are the copyrighted property of the instructors or authors and may not be used for any purpose other than this course.

Recording: To ensure the free and open discussion of ideas, students may not record classroom lectures, discussion and/or activities without the advance written permission of the instructor, and any such recording properly approved in advance can be used solely for the student’s own private use.

Submit Work

In order to ensure that your work is evaluated in a timely manner, please follow these guidelines.

  • You will a) use the assignment tool on the course web site to submit your graded assignments or, b) bring a printed copy to class. Do not email assignments to your instructor unless specifically asked to do so in the case of a website malfunction.
  • Late assignments will not be read or graded.
  • Unless specifically requested, do not submit drafts or revisions of work. We assume that all assignments you submit are final work ready to be graded.
  • If you are not sure about the instructions for an assignment, you are welcome to e-mail us, but do not wait until the last minute lest you do not get a response. See e-mail guidelines below.
  • Please label your files with your last name, content, and date. This saves us lots of time. Example: Kerr.SHI Module 1 .09152016

Technology: Bring your charged laptop/IPad to class, but do not use it except for course activities, please. Cell phones should be put on vibrate mode. If you must take a call, please step outside to avoid disrupting class.

Times/Location: This course will meet September 10, October 8, November 5 and December 3. Our classroom is 5702Posvar Hall. For all other weeks, this course will be offered on-line. During those weeks, you do not have to be on-line at the same time; the on-line sessions are asynchronous. You must complete all assignments, however.

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