Date of Conferral
2023
Degree
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
School
Education
Advisor
Kathleen Kingston
Abstract
In Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988), the U.S. Supreme Court established that school administrators have the right to review, change, or remove student-created media if the school sponsors it and if the school administrator has a “legitimate pedagogical interest,” which has been inconsistent across high school student-created media in a metro area of a southern region in a southwestern state. Because of the vagueness, the administration can review, change, or remove student-created media based on personal social, cultural, ethical, or political beliefs. The purpose of this basic qualitative research was to examine how campus administrators determined “legitimate pedagogical interest.” Gatekeeping theory explains that forces may either constrain or facilitate the passage of information through the gatekeeping process. The research question addressed how administrators determined “legitimate pedagogical interest” in their decision to use prior review or prior restraint. Data collection occurred through semistructured one-on-one virtual interviews. The analysis included transcribing, coding, and analyzing the interviews. Based on the data, participants said that determining "legitimate pedagogical interest" was ensuring that student-created media was factual, was unbiased, and aligned with district and state curriculum standards. Administrators decided to initiate prior review or prior restraint because of the community, politics and current events, and district forces. Positive social change may result from exploring the understanding behind administrative use of prior review on high school journalism programs and understanding the factors that affect administrators.
Recommended Citation
Cabrera, Pedro J., "Administrative Use of Prior Review in High School Journalism Programs" (2023). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 14664.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/14664
