Practice ed Law Research Paper

Let's start with an interesting article in the NEA Today. Mary Ellen Flannery, "Address Unknown:
How do you assign homework to a kid without a home?" The article talks about homeless students, and, among other things, school districts and residency. It also mentions the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, known also as the "McKinney Act."

1. Let's Google the Act. We know that the word "Act" should indicate a federal statutory law. Turns out it was originally PL 100-77, and Reauthorized as part of NCLB, as PL107-110, 115 STAT 1989
2. Let's look in the index of our School Law textbook to find if the Act is mentioned and how it's been applied. Turns out, there's a section of the text devoted to homeless education. Fortunate you!
3. You wonder if there are other books that discuss Mckinney-Vento. So you click into the Reference Universe database and search the whole Reference Collection in one search!
   
4. Now that you have the law text and some examples, you should look at what kinds of matters related to homelessness may have been adjudicated by the NYSED Commissioner of Education. You also decide to search the Commissioner's Decisions for "residence"
5. Looks like the School Law textbook mentions some 8 NYCRR regulations and some NYS statutes. Good thing they're online!
   
6. However, because Mckinney-Vento is a federal law, you need to search for court cases, too. Lexis Nexis to the rescue! A Federal & State Cases search on "Mckinney act" should get us started. Too many results? Add words like Children or school or district. Or all of them.
7. That librarian is so cool! You think as you write the paper. Everyone should know a cool librarian.