Date of Award

Spring 2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Committee Chair

Stephen Laws

Abstract

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine practices for school resource officers (SROs) in elementary schools to gain a compilation of best practices for this position in schools. Through this study, three district leaders, three law enforcement leaders, and 12 law enforcement officers serving in elementary schools from three school districts in North Carolina completed 10 open-ended response items and fifteen 5-point Likert scale response items. The survey instrument was constructed based on practices regarding trainings, duties, responsibilities, and memorandums of understanding (MOUs). The content validation index was utilized to measure the validity of the survey tool. The theoretical framework chosen to explore this topic was the organizational role theory, a framework within the larger theoretical body, role theory. The elements of organizational role theory that were explored to support this study were role taking, role consensus, role ambiguity, and role conflict. To eliminate role ambiguity and the possibility of role conflict, achieving a consensus on the expectations for the position of elementary SRO allows for the individual serving in this capacity to take on the role efficiently. From this research, a collection of best practices for the training, professional development, duties, and responsibilities for elementary SROs to be included in a clear and precise MOU for the benefit of elementary SRO programs was established.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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