Thursday at 5:20 p.m., Montgomery County Board of Education (BOE) members are scheduled to discuss the results of its current pilot program concerning the use of cell phones and other devices in school.
The goal of the program is to maximize focus during instructional time, improve mental health and well-being, and decrease distractions to learning during the school day,” according to a report from Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS),
Currently, students in elementary school may only use their phones before or after school. Middle school students, when approved, also can use their phones during classwork and lunch but not between classes.
High school students can use their phones before and after school, during lunch and when permissible, during instructional class and between classes.
Under the pilot program, which began with the start of this school year, phones were put away all day. Considerations were made that sometimes phones are needed for medical reasons, like monitoring insulin levels, or for special educational accommodations. A principal may allow students to use their phones, for instance, if they were a teenage parent with a child at home.
When phones are out of the pictures, principals reported there was improved classroom focus and engagement, fewer distractions, a decrease in drama and a positive impact on instructional time, according to the MCPS report.
Teachers agreed a lack of personal devices improved classroom focus and engagement, and they appreciated that had some discretion.
Students also agreed that the results were positive and remarked on a “shift in social dynamics.”
However, principals, teachers and students alike remarked that students are clever and found ways to work around the all day away policy. Many reported that teachers tended to be inconsistent in enforcing the policy.
The results of banning devices heightened frustration between students and teachers, according to the survey.
According to the results of the pilot program, almost all high school students bring their phone to school daily. Many others also bring ear buds, headphones and smart watches as well.
The way phone use is now at the elementary level, most staff thought the personal mobile device rules were fine, while most families were not aware of them.
At middle school, most staff and families thought the proposed policies were “just right,” but most students “felt they were too restrictive.”
At high school, students and parents were okay with cell phone policies, but the staff believed “they are not enough.”
According to the plan presented to the BOE, the pilot program report will be finalized and revealed in March as ongoing discussions among all participants continues through April.
A finished policy is expected to be approved in May with implementation starting with the next school year.
Students participating in the pilot project attend Rockville High School, Benjamin Banneker Middle School, Eastern Middle School, Gaithersburg Middle School, Lakelands Park Middle School, Montgomery Village Middle School, Thomas W. Pyle Middle School, Odessa Shannon Middle School, Silver Creek Middle School and Takoma Park Middle School as well as the RICA School in Rockville.
