Date of Award
12-2018
Culminating Project Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Educational Administration and Leadership, K-12: Ed.D.
Department
Educational Administration and Higher Education
College
School of Education
First Advisor
Roger Worner
Second Advisor
Kay Worner
Third Advisor
James Johnson
Fourth Advisor
David Lund
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Keywords and Subject Headings
Technology, 1:1 technology, elementary technology initiatives
Abstract
Abstract
According to the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institute the rapid advancement in technology today requires students to attain a broader set of competencies to be successful than in the past (Winthrop, McGivney, Williams, & Shankar, 2016). To achieve these higher standards, education must take “new approaches that can reach children who have not yet been reached” to attain higher student learning outcomes (Winthrop et al., 2016).
School leadership matters when a school or school district is considering a technology initiative (Anderson & Dexter, 2005) and principals must be increasingly involved in the project to model and support implementation (Anthony & Patravanich, 2014; Stuart, Mills, & Remus, 2009).
“A growing body of evidence has suggested that we are in the midst of a global learning crisis. Pedagogical practices and curricula used in schools are ill equipped to allow children to learn the skills they will need for the future. If education systems in their current form fail to improve learning outcomes, it is because the design of the way education is delivered itself is flawed. In a failed system, incremental improvements are insufficient to bring about the transformational shifts to curriculum and pedagogy needed to get better results.” (Winthrop et al., 2016)
The 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) depicts Minnesota’s achievement levels relatively unchanged from the 2015 NAEP results, however, Minnesota continues to have one of the largest achievement gaps in the nation (NAEP, 2017). Minnesota school districts are infusing technology into classrooms to address learning disparities, and in 2016 the State of Minnesota reported that 55% of Minnesota schools had operationalized some level of a 1:1 technology initiative.
The purpose of the study was to examine the perceptions of a sampling of Minnesota elementary principals on the extent, value and quality of their involvement in the implementation of their school districts’ 1:1 technology initiatives. Further, the study intended to ascertain the sample group principals’ perceived preparedness to provide leadership and training to their schools’ teaching staffs, (including staff employed one or more years following implementation,) regarding their school districts’ 1:1 technology initiatives.
Recommended Citation
Powell, Susan J., "A Study of Minnesota Elementary Principals’ Perceptions on 1:1 Technology Implementation" (2018). Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership. 50.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/edad_etds/50
Comments/Acknowledgements
Acknowledgement
This dissertation journey was extremely long and arduous, fraught with more obstacles than I could have ever imagined. There is deep emotion because I finished and deeper emotion due to all who have passed during these years. It is truly a miracle and the result of many blessings and prayers that I have made it this far.
It goes without saying this study and the completion of my doctoral studies would not have occurred without the love and support of my advisor, Chair and friend, Dr. Roger Worner. I truly do not have the words to articulate my gratitude for Roger’s never-ending encouragement and belief that I could finish. I am eternally grateful for your guidance and friendship.
I am so grateful for my committee members Dr. Roger Worner, Dr. Kay Worner, Dr. James Johnson and Dr. David Lund who so freely shared their expertise, insight, advice and recommendations, and at times on very short notice. I honestly, cannot thank each of you enough for your time and commitment to my doctoral journey.
Behind the scenes I am grateful that my family understood or tried to understand what I was trying to accomplish. I thank my husband, Bill, children, Chase and Kira and my mom, Jeannie Porter, for their encouragement to complete this goal. At a time when I believed I could not complete the process, I told my husband, it was over, I was done, and I wouldn’t finish. Without my knowledge, Bill contacted a long-time friend and Bush Leadership alum buddy, Dr. Mary Loberg. Following that phone call, I received an impromptu pep-talk at Caribou, and from that day forward, there was no turning back. Thank you for your friendship and guidance Mary. You were right, I could do it!
Fritz, I did it, I’m done, and I miss you.