Test Scores Rise After Cell Phones Banned From Schools
Test Scores Rise After Cell Phones Banned From Schools
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A pupil uses his mobile phone for research during a english lesson at the Ridings Federation Winterbourne International Academy in Winterbourne near Bristol on February 26, 2015.Matt Cardy—Getty Images
Exam scores climbed by as much as 6% in schools that imposed strict bans on cell phones, according to a new study that cautions policymakers to keep strict cell phone policies in the classroom.
Researchers at the University of Texas and Louisiana State University surveyed cell phone policies across schools in four English cities since 2001, studying how exam scores changed before and after the bans were enacted.
“We found the impact of banning phones for these students equivalent to an additional hour a week in school, or to increasing the school year by five days,” the study’s authors wrote on the academic blog, The Conversation.
The authors noted the strongest gains occurred among underachieving and disadvantaged students, while they observed almost no measurable impact on the highest scoring students. “Allowing phones into schools would harm the lowest achieving and low income students the most,” the authors conclude.
Portraits of Schoolkids Learning Firearm Safety in Rural Indiana, 1956
Caption from LIFE. Wide-eyed fascination is displayed by boys as Rankin holds his revolver with the cylinder opened to show them there are no shells in it.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. In safety class instructor Rod Rankin is bombarded by Hobart, Ind., boys with questions about gun display and cartridge case in his belt.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Drawing bolt on 12-gauge shotgun, Johnny Cherela, 7, grimaces as he follows Rankin's instructions to check the chamber to see if gun is loaded.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Cringing class holds breath and ears as Rankin aims 30-30 rifle at can of water in demonstration to impress kids with the destructive power of guns.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Careening can splashes water through air as bullet hits it from 18 feet away. Later one of the awed boys told his mother how 'strong' the gun was.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
