Education Law Resource Guide
You can search the following selected databases for articles related to education law. You may also be interested in other related guides including education.
Many of the databases listed below include at least some full text articles, but very few databases are 100% full text. Look for the 
button or try the E-Journal Search.
CQ (Congressional Quarterly) Library VCU
Full text of the Congressional Quarterly and Congressional Researcher, publications covering Congress and topics of legislative interest.
ERIC VCU
Abstracts of articles, books, and Department of Education publications including links to some full text reports from 1966-present. There are three versions of ERIC including EBSCO, FirstSearch, and Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (CSA), as well as the freely available database at http://www.eric.ed.gov. For older articles, see the Education Index (Cabell Library Reference L11.Z994), covering education literature from 1929 - 1997.
Government Printing Office (GPO) Monthly Catalog VCU
Citations for publications of the U.S. government. Includes legislative materials and the vast array of publications from the executive branch agencies.
Academic OneFile VCU (1980 - present)
Articles from magazines, newspapers, and journals in the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities (almost 50% is full text).
LexisNexis Academic VCU
Contains federal and state court decisions, statutes and regulations, legal publications, and the full text of national and regional newspapers and magazines. Search tip: To access legal information, click on the Legal Research link to the left of the main screen.
LexisNexis Government Periodicals Index VCU
Citations for articles on a variety of topics published in US Government magazines/newsletters. Some of these are available online through the Government Periodicals on the Web link.
PAIS International VCU
Abstracts from the international literature on public affairs, public and social policies, and international relations. Covers sources published 1937 through the present.
Social Sciences Citation Index VCU
Database of references cited in articles from more than 1,725 major journals across 50 social sciences disciplines.
Social Sciences Index VCU
Citations to articles of at least one column in length from English-language periodicals. Coverage includes a wide range of interdisciplinary fields covered in a broad array of social sciences journals.
For an overview of education law topics, you can consult the following reference books:
Deskbook Encyclopedia of American School Law
Cabell Library Reference KF4114.D46
Education and the Law: A Dictionary
Cabell Library Reference KF4117.T39
Education Law (netLibrary VCU)
Cabell Library KF4118.I43
The Law and Special Education
Cabell Library Reference KF4210.Y45
A
Teacher's Guide to Education Law (netLibrary VCU)
Cabell Library KF4119.8.E3 I48
The Yearbook of Education Law
Cabell Library Reference KF4102.5.Y4
Other general legal reference titles include the following:
American Jurisprudence
Cabell Library Reference KF154.A45
Black's Law Dictionary
Cabell Library Reference KF156.B53
West's Encyclopedia of American Law
Cabell Library KF154.W4
You can search the library catalog for additional books, including electronic books, related to education law. You can access the library catalog from the main VCU Libraries Web page at http://www.library.vcu.edu by clicking on the Catalog tab (near the top of the screen) and then clicking on the VCU Library Catalog link.
To search for materials from other libraries, use Worldcat VCU or check the catalogs of other Virginia libraries. You can try Interlibrary Loan to obtain materials that VCU Libraries does not own.
If you need help developing a search strategy, Ask a Librarian.
Legislation, Statutes, and Regulations
The following selected sources will help you find legislation, statutes, and regulations related to education research. For a basic guide to U.S. government for all ages, see Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government or How Our Laws Are Made.
GPO Access
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/
Legislative, executive, and judicial resources including the United States Code, Code of Federal Regulations, and Federal Register.
LexisNexis Academic VCU
Contains federal and state court decisions, statutes and regulations, legal publications, and the full text of national and regional newspapers and magazines. Search tip: To access legal information, click on the Legal Research link to the left of the main screen. Look under the Codes & Regulations heading for Federal Code and Regulations.
LexisNexis Congressional VCU
U.S. legislative information including bills, reports, hearings, and public laws from 1970 - present. Search tip: Start with a legislative history search. For example, search using no child left behind as your search phrase, and you will retrieve a legislative history containing a summary, related bills, and references (and links) to relevant Congressional Record entries (which feature floor debate), reports and hearings.
THOMAS
http://thomas.loc.gov/
U.S. legislative information including bills, public laws, votes, the Congressional Record, and reports from 1973 - present.
Virginia General Assembly and Legislative Information System
http://legis.state.va.us/
Legislative information from Virginia's General Assembly including bills and resolutions, Code of Virginia, Virginia Administrative Code, Rules of the Supreme Court, and House and Senate Documents. For additional state government resources, see our state & local government information research guide.
The following selected sources will help you find court cases related to education research. For an introduction to the federal court system, see Understanding the Federal Courts.
LexisNexis Academic VCU
Contains federal and state court decisions, statutes and regulations, legal publications, and the full text of national and regional newspapers and magazines. Search tip: To access legal information, click on the Legal Research link to the left of the main screen. Look under the Case Law heading to find cases. You might want to try the Area of Law by Topic search where you can select Education Law.
FindLaw
http://lp.findlaw.com/
Searchable databases of Federal and State cases and codes for legal professionals.
Virginia's Judicial System
http://www.courts.state.va.us/
Information about Virginia's judicial system. You can find links to other state court Web sites from the National Center for State Courts.
The following resources will help you with education-related research. Please note that the list is selective. For more Web resources, you can search some of the sources listed below. When using the Web for research, remember to evaluate your sources for currency, objectivity and authority.
U.S. Department of Education: Policy
http://www.ed.gov/policy
Legislation, regulations, guidance, and other policy documents.
Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School)
http://www.law.cornell.edu/
"Known internationally as a leading 'law-not-com' provider of public legal information," offering opinions of the United States Supreme Court handed down since 1992, with over 600 earlier decisions of historic importance, over a decade of opinions of the New York Court of Appeals, and the full United States Code. Also covers a number of legal topics providing explanatory guides and resource listings. Includes Education Law: An overview covering key statutes, regulations, and court decisions in education.