Policy-to-Practice Study of the Implementation of Digital Citizenship and Internet and Cell Phone Safety Education in Louisiana Public Middle Schools and High School

The purpose of this policy-to-practice study was to investigate whether Louisiana public school principals and teachers have responded successfully to BESE's initiatives to improve student digital citizenship skills and state legislation to provide Internet and cell phone safety education. This study required a two-phase sequential explanatory mixed-methods research approach through which quantitative and qualitative data were collected from public middle school and high school principals throughout Louisiana. The first phase of the study involved data collected through the online survey. The survey instrument was developed to measure principals' perceptions of digital citizenship and Internet and cell phone safety and explore the implementation process of these statewide initiatives. The second phase which included interviews with principals and educators employed a phenomenological and case study design method utilizing two interview protocols developed by the researcher.;Information derived from this study provides evidence of the need for further financial or leadership investment at the state, district, and school level. State lawmakers, policy researchers, educational leaders throughout the state, and principals of Louisiana public schools should support change or improvement in the education policy implementation structure currently in place in the state's educational system.;Interviews revealed many different approaches to providing digital citizenship and Internet and cell phone safety instruction. Leaders at each school had developed their own information and their own ways of presenting the content and customized it to their student body. In all three case study schools, there was no indication of just one approach to integrating digital citizenship and Internet and cell phone safety instruction. Each principal indicated numerous approaches to not only integrate the instruction for integration sake, but numerous approaches to providing the instruction for their students' sake. Each principal seemed to feel a responsibility for his school to provide these skills and a sincere desire to reach each student in his school.