Date Approved

9-18-2024

Embargo Period

9-18-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Educational Leadership, Administration, and Research

College

College of Education

Advisor

Ane Turner Johnson, Ph.D.

Committee Member 1

Kara Ieva, Ph.D.

Committee Member 2

David Lindenmuth, Ed.D.

Keywords

Mental Health;Technology;Wellness

Subject(s)

School management and operation

Disciplines

Education | Educational Leadership

Abstract

Technology use has been identified as a key contributor to the decrease in youth mental health (Children’s Bureau, 2019; Lebrun-Harris et al., 2022; Dwyer, 2022; Mojtabai et al., 2016; Yasakci, 2019; Odgers & Jensen, 2020). The purpose of this qualitative instrumental case study was to investigate how school district administrators are addressing wellness issues that are developing in elementary aged students due to technology use. The intent of this study was to use the theory of sensemaking (Weick, 1995) to investigate how administrators create policies that respond to the current wellness crisis arising from technology usage in public elementary school settings. Data collection included semi-structured interviews and document collection. The sample included district level administrators from New York State public schools. This study found that district administrators believed the responsibility for correcting a child's behavior regarding technology use on the family, rather than the school or government. Furthermore, this study found that administrators used retrospection to inform decisions regarding pedagogical practices and policies regarding technology in classrooms. Finally, the study found that administrators struggled to keep an administrative lens while creating policies and making decisions as they encountered conflicting thoughts while making decisions due to the various capacities they serve.

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