Dissertation
Federal guidance and state response to cyberbullying policy: a document analysis
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Drexel University
Dec 2023
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00001897
Abstract
Cyberbullying has been called a public health concern (Achuthan et al., 2023; Cheng, C. M., et al.,2023; Patchin et al., 2023) and continues to be an issue that plagues students throughout the country (Hindu et al., 2022). The purpose of this study was to investigate the guidance and policy offered by federal legislators, state legislators, and school district administrators intended to support schools with the prevention and remediation of cyberbullying. The document analysis method was employed to drive qualitative research to learn about the influence of policy offered at each level of legislation and policy on the subsequent levels of legislation and policy. The central question that guided the current research was: How does federal guidance influence state policy and local policy on cyberbullying education policy? The related sub-questions were: (a) What federal guidance has the U.S. Department of Education issued to states about cyberbullying in the last 10 years? (b)What influence has the federal guidance had on the development of state-level policy/guidance in the states of Alabama and Colorado? (c) How do the local large urban districts respond to state guidance on cyberbullying? Federal, state, and local public records on cyberbullying as well as guidance documents and other public communications were used to answer the research questions. After reviewing all data collected, the researcher determined a consistent theme throughout the documents reviewed education federalism affected policy and procedures at the federal level, state level, and even at the level of local school districts. The other themes that emerged included the prioritization of stakeholder communications and engagement and the importance of state legislative action. The researcher made three major recommendations based on the data collected: (a) Learn from states and localities to diffuse innovations in cyberbullying prevention and response. (b) Further empower states and localities to adopt robust and effective cyberbullying laws, procedures, and policies by updating federal technical guidance. (c) Consider creating a federal definition of cyberbullying.
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Details
- Title
- Federal guidance and state response to cyberbullying policy
- Creators
- Grace Adams-Square
- Contributors
- Bridget Blakely (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- x, 137 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- School of Education (1997-2026); Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991021819014304721