ERO on the cell phone ban

The ERO has done a report on the impact of removing cellphones from schools. Their major findings:

• Around eight in ten secondary leaders (83 percent) and teachers (79 percent) report prohibiting phone use at school has improved their students’ ability to focus on schoolwork
• The increased ability to focus in class appears to have contributed to learning, with around six in ten secondary teachers (61 percent) and leaders (58 percent) reporting student achievement has improved.
• Over three-quarters of secondary teachers (77 percent) and leaders (78 percent) also say restricting cell phone use has improved student behaviour in the classroom.
• Over two-thirds (69 percent) of secondary leaders say that bullying has decreased.
• Almost seven in ten (69 percent) leaders in secondary schools in low socio-economic communities said achievement improved, compared to four in ten (42 percent) in high socio-economic communities

So student achievement has improved, behaviour has improved, bullying has decreased and the biggest gains are in low socio-economic communities. That’s superb. This shows the positive difference good government policy can make.