This phenomenological study's objective was to review the existing initiatives for cybersecurity awareness and training that are in place for the K-12 education system throughout the United States. Every facet of life is now plagued by the potential, perceived, and real threat of cyber warfare, which includes, but is not limited to, K-12 schools…

The Internet, and more specifically, social media applications, have been incorporated into the daily lives of many people in society. This transition has implications for what can be learned, what kind of learning is happening, and what in-person actions digital learning can lead to. This qualitative study reframed digital learning in an informal…

The requirement that schools must monitor student internet use is not a new concept to K-12 education; however, the use of safety management platforms (SMPs) to help with this task is new. These tools utilize artificial intelligence to sift through the data attached to student information and communications technology (ICT) use and report it back…

Hundreds of thousands of K-12 children in the United States are enrolled in online K-12 virtual schools that consistently report poor academic outcomes. There is a need to assess how well instructors in a synchronous online environment present new material to learners in a way that best aligns with how the brain manages and integrates new…

Because parental engagement has been shown to have a positive relationship with K-12 student academic achievement, the problem for this study was that though information and communication technology applications (ICT apps) are available to engage parents with teachers and schools, it was unclear whether parents are aware of and use them. The…

During the last 60 years, the United States (US) has experienced a rapid growth of MLLs (multilingual learners), also known as ELLs (English Language Learners) or English as a Second Language (ESL) learners. These students represent a large segment of the public education population, and there is an academic achievement gap between MLLs and…

LimLimited research exists about the experiences and perceptions of school superintendents and their professional use of social media. I aimed to examine the use and perceptions of New Jersey school superintendents and social media. Both are essential to understand their use to transform the education landscape and how people communicate. I…

Encryption based ransomware operates by iterating through all files with specific extensions on the computer and mutating them into an unusable form. The mutation, in many cases, can only be reversed if the user pays the operator of the ransomware a fee to get their files back. K-12 school districts have fallen victim to rampant malware as a…

This qualitative case study addresses the rise in popularity of the use of predictive text programs within the K-12 educational environment. A problem exists in the discrepancy between the widespread availability of Google Smart Compose within Google Docs, an AI predictive text tool, within the school environment, and a distinct lack of research…

The purpose of this study was to document the perceptions of five Puerto Rican English teachers from one private school regarding the implementation of distance reading lessons. The focus of this phenomenological research was to explore teachers' lived experiences and perceptions of their beliefs, opinions, attitudes, resources, benefits, and the…

Kindergartens through twelfth grade institutions (K-12) are susceptible to unauthorized breaches to the security of their networked systems. These systems house sensitive information for students and staff alike. K-12 organizations face a significant risk for loss of this information that can damage reputation and pose liability. Perpetrators have…

Advances in technological uses within public schools provide increased methods to collect and store non-public personal information (NPI) or personally identifiable information (PII) from both students and employees. Consequently, the sensitive information collected is susceptible to unauthorized disclosure, as various public school employees are…

This case study investigates the implementation of a unique community-driven mentoring pilot program (PASOS[superscript 2]) forging stronger community and K-12 partnerships. Focused on surfacing what matters most in engaging community mentors, this case study explores a civic organization's quest to impact, expand, and bring value via mentoring to…

Because data access may be perceived by principals as overwhelming or irrelevant rather than helpful (Wayman, Spikes, & Volonnino, 2013), data access does not guarantee effective data use. The data-based decision making literature has largely focused on teacher use of data, considering less often data-based organizational improvements for the…

Standardized testing has been part of the American educational system for decades. Controversy from the beginning has plagued standardized testing, is plaguing testing today, and will continue to be controversial. Given the current federal educational policies supporting increased standardized testing, psychometricians, educators and policy makers…