Negotiating the role of the chief technology officer during a K-12, 1:1 initiative

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand how a central district leadership team in an average-size school district in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States negotiated role ambiguity and facilitating conditions for the chief technology officer (CTO) to build successful district technology capacity through a 1:1 initiative. To fulfill this purpose, this study was guided by the following two research questions: (1) What was the central district leadership team technology vision that drove CTO role negotiation during the 1:1 initiative? (2) How did the central district leadership team negotiate role ambiguity of the CTO over time? Essential data included interviews with each of the six central district administrators on the district leadership team. Additional data included interviews from a small focus group and district documents that captured activities during the ongoing 1:1 implementation process. Data was analyzed using general inductive analysis, constant comparison, and included multiple coding strategies. Findings revealed that the district leadership team developed a strong technology vision that prioritized a commitment to a curricular based 1:1 initiative. This leadership vision included providing equitable technology resources for all students, funding the initiative in a way that would not impact other district programs, and communicating the purpose and progress of technology to all stakeholders over time. As the district leadership team collaborated to create and prioritize this vision, they recognized that the CTO needed substantial resources to ensure initiative success. Accordingly, the team negotiated to provide the CTO with increases in funding, human resources, and an elevated leadership status. In turn, the CTO provided better technology facilitating conditions by reorganizing his department, delegating tasks, supervising professional development, and focusing on strategy and management issues to support the 1:1 initiative. From these findings, four conclusions were drawn. First, the leadership team prioritized a curricular-based 1:1 initiative, which negotiated the role of the CTO over time. Second, growing district-wide technology facilitating conditions was inseparably linked with CTO role negotiation, clarification, and expansion. Third, education credentials gave the CTO advantages in negotiating, clarifying, and expanding his role, and fourth, over time, norming the CTO educational leadership role significantly expanded CTO role boundaries. Keywords: Boundary-Spanning, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Chief Information Officer (CIO), Director of Technology, Educational Technology, One-To-One, 1:1, Technology Coordinator