A new study finds that Florida test scores rose and attendance improved after a school cellphone ban, although short-term disciplinary problems also arose in the state.
The study, conducted by two researchers from the University of Rochester and RAND, a nonprofit research organization, found the positive benefits from a cellphone ban don’t emerge until the second year the policy is enacted.
By Year 2, student test scores ticked up, and a significant reduction occurred in unexcused absences. But in the first year, schools saw problems.
“We show that the enforcement of cellphone bans in schools led to a significant increase in student suspensions in the short-term, especially among Black students, but disciplinary actions began to dissipate after the first year, potentially suggesting a new steady state after an initial adjustment period,” the authors said.
The study is a working draft paper that has not been peer-reviewed yet.
Disciplinary proceedings doubled the month after a school began enforcing a cellphone ban. The increase in suspensions lasted the rest of the first year, although it went back to normal in the second year, according to the paper.
Test scores went up by two to three percentiles in the second year of the ban. Throughout the first and second year, unexcused absences were reduced significantly, which the authors say likely explains the jump in test scores.
“Overall, our findings reveal that cellphone bans could improve student outcomes, yet these benefits come at the cost of elevated suspension rates in the short term. The challenge that educators face then is to minimize these short-term adverse effects until a new status quo without cellphones is established in schools,” the study said.
The study comes as more than half of states have enacted some laws around cellphone bans in schools.
