<p>This
qualitative study examined the thoughts and perceptions of Indiana public
school superintendents overseeing school safety response and planning in their
districts. The study was based on interviews of five public school
superintendents overseeing safety planning and response in large Indiana school
districts located in varying regions of the state. Participants were purposely
sampled according to the number of students served in their districts and the
number of schools that they were responsible for overseeing. Data were
collected by conducting semi structured interviews via telephone with the
researcher taking field notes and digitally recording dialogue from the
interviews.</p>
<p>Two
theoretical frameworks were used in the study—phenomenology and reality
testing. Phenomenology was used to focus on the lived experience of the
participants in the study. This particular study examined the five
participating superintendent’s experiences while overseeing safe school
planning and response measures. The participants were asked to describe their
experiences and share their perceptions (i.e., what they were doing, why they
were doing it, and how it affected safety response and preparedness in their
district). One of the planning measures involved participation in the recently
mandated safe school plan audit. Reality testing was used to determine what is
actually happening in the real world. The use of reality testing in this study
focused on determining what was actually occurring in the districts that
completed the safe school plan audit process.
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As a
result of the study, three themes emerged. Superintendent lived experiences,
thoughts, perceptions, and actions regarding school safety planning and
response are centered on consistency, reaction, and security. Superintendent
responses reflected the importance they placed on establishing consistency within
their safety planning and response efforts. Despite their efforts to plan and
establish consistent mitigation, response, and recovery efforts superintendents
lived experiences presented that their thoughts and efforts were often times
reactionary. Throughout the interviews, superintendents represented security to
be a pivotal element of their safety efforts.</p>
<p>The three themes were further grounded into two assertions. First,
Indiana public school superintendents live with a number of uncertainties as they
oversee and plan safe school efforts in their districts. Second, Indiana public
school superintendents plan and oversee safety operations in the absence of
viable quantitative safety incident data.</p>
<br>
<p> </p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/15046527 |
| Date | 26 July 2021 |
| Creators | Mark D Francesconi (11172324) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/What_are_the_Lived_Experiences_of_Indiana_Public_School_Superintendents_Overseeing_School_Safety_/15046527 |
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