Overview
- Researchers used building-level cellphone-activity data and a difference-in-differences design to compare Florida schools with high versus low pre-ban phone use after a 2023 restriction took effect.
- Test scores rose modestly in Year 2, including about a 1.1 percentile gain in higher pre-ban phone-use schools and smaller overall increases reported across some measures.
- Unexcused absences declined after the ban, and the study attributes a substantial share of the test-score gains to improved attendance.
- Suspensions surged during initial enforcement, more than doubling in the first month and disproportionately affecting Black students, before returning to prior levels in the second year.
- States continue to move toward stricter policies as districts report engagement benefits, while legislators and researchers press for carve-outs, flexible enforcement, and digital-habit education to avoid inequities.