Northeastern Pennsylvania Principals' Knowledge of the Constitutional Rights of Students as Determined by Select United States Supreme Court Decisions

The purpose of this research was to determine the level of knowledge held by northeastern Pennsylvania principals working in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, and Pike counties regarding select United States Supreme Court decisions. These decisions pertain to the issues of due process, search and seizure, religious freedom, freedom of expression, and the flag salute as they relate to the type and recency of principals' training, their years of administrative experience, and their building level assignment.;One hundred forty-four surveys were mailed to principals in the specified counties. The major findings regarding data collected from the 62 principals who returned the survey were generally consistent with research reported in the sources that were studied as part of the researcher's review of the literature. Data collected from the surveys were analyzed to gather descriptive information about response rates. Multiple regression was performed to determine whether or not professional characteristics (type and recency of principals' training, their years of administrative experience, and their building level assignment) of principals predict their total score on the legal knowledge survey.;Research reported in this study revealed that principals scores on the legal knowledge test included a mean score of 19.1 (+/- 3.2) or 63.7% correct, and a median score of 19.3 (range = 12.7--29) or 64.3% correct. Data reported demonstrated that none of the independent variables (type and recency of principals' training, their years of administrative experience, and their building level assignment) predict total score on the legal knowledge test.