School leaders, attorneys and researchers shared their expertise on relevant topics about education law at this year’s Martha McCarthy Education Law and Policy Institute. 

Now in its sixth year, the institute included breakout sessions and discussions from a range of issues, including child abuse and neglect, religion in schools, Title IX and a keynote by McCarthy on student expression in the digital age.

Janet Decker, Associate Professor of Education Leadership and Policy Studies, called the event a huge success.

“All day attendees raved about how practical and useful the information was,” she said. “For several years, we have met to examine the many pressing issues in education law and policy and to encourage increased legal literacy for school leaders, teachers, researchers, attorneys and others.”

Martha McCarthy, a faculty member at the School of Education from 1975 to 2011, is a nationally recognized as an expert in education law. Her research has covered a variety of education leadership and policy matters, including student engagement, equity in schools, teacher preparation, and religion in schools. According to Decker, shecreated an undergraduate school law course for preservice teachers at IU, a course that remains one of the only required school law courses in the country for undergraduates studying to become teachers.