‘Close to zero impact’: US study casts doubt on effect of phone ban in schools

Strict bans on mobile phones in schools have “close to zero” impact on student learning and show no evidence of improvements in attendance or online bullying, a study has found. Researchers at US universities including Stanford and Duke looked at nearly 1,800 US schools where students’ phones were kept in locked pouches and found little or no differences in outcomes compared with similar schools without strict bans. The report concluded that among schools instituting a ban: “For academic achievement, average effects on test scores are consistently close to zero.” The results will come as a disappointment to teaching unions and campaigners in England who backed the government’s recent move to restrict the use of mobile phones in schools. A ban is likely to come into force next year. But Prof Thomas Dee of Stanford University’s graduate school of education, one of the report’s authors, said it would be wrong for policymakers to see the results as a reason to shy away from restrictions. “One of the concerns I have about this study is that it might encourage people to walk away from phone bans as a compelling reform. And I think that would be a major mistake,” Dee told NPR . “There are some encouraging results in the midst of these mixed findings. …