Photo by Chris Meyer “Dr. McCarthy’s warm laugh, quick smile, caring attitude, and intense interest in her subject and students were characteristics that made her exceptionally effective in the classroom. In candor, she is a woman I hope to emulate.” —Kate Hyland, a former doctoral

Fresh out of college, McCarthy’s first three years in inner-city classrooms prompted Grade Teacher magazine to name her one of the nation’s outstanding teachers of at-risk youth. Her wide experiences since then as an educator and administrator provide eye-opening insights to IU Bloomington education students, who consistently give her enthusiastic evaluations.

If teaching is McCarthy’s purpose, educational law is her passion. As schools increasingly become lightening rods for controversies involving race, religion, disability, privacy, funding and censorship, McCarthy conveys not only the rules teachers need to know about these sensitive issues, but also the values underlying a legal system that attempts to balance majority preferences with minority rights.

McCarthy is a coach and facilitator in the classroom, and is gratified when students realize that learning is a joint responsibility. She peppers her teaching with such activities as role playing and moot court trials.

“I probably worked the hardest in her school law class, but I learned the most,” said Connie Richart, a former student. “Rarely does a week go by that my colleagues and I don’t use something from her book or the other resources from the class.”

When McCarthy couldn’t find a suitable educational law textbook, she co-authored Public School Law: Teachers’ and Students’ Rights, now used at 125 universities. A foremost authority on educational law and administration, she has published nine other books, more than 150 articles and 36 book chapters.

Her research informs her teaching. In addition to delving into U.S. Supreme Court decisions, she directs the High School Survey of Student Engagement, a national initiative to measure student involvement in educationally purposeful activities and guide school improvement efforts. McCarthy also has been elected to leadership in nearly every national organization associated with school law and school administration, and she helped establish the Indiana Network of Women Administrators.

Beyond her classroom, McCarthy frequently mentors students and junior faculty, answering an average of 10 letters a week from former students. “She provides an easy balance of direction and freedom, and is always encouraging of new and innovative strategies,” said Amy Steketee, one of her associate instructors.