But that does not mean that the banning of mobiles phones caused the higher grades.
As per their report…
>
>The findings, while not demonstrating causality, show a clear **correlation** between an effective phone ban and better school performance, as measured by both Ofsted rating and Progress 8
>**It is possible that these results reflect a third, underlying factor**: for example, it is plausible that schools with firmer behaviour policies across the board are more likely to implement effective bans on mobile phones, and it is these broader behaviour policies that lead to the improved school performance.
That’s a pretty damn plausible underlying factor right there.
The report then goes on to say:
>Nevertheless, particularly taking into account the strong approbation given to effective bans by many school leaders who have implemented effective bans, and the wide range of international evidence demonstrating that effective bans on phones in school can have a positive impact on attainment, attention and other factors such as a reduction in bullying, these results offer further support for implementing an effective ban on smart phones in schools.
This is such a strange way of saying “our results might be horse shit, we don’t know, but look, there are other studies out there which agree with us, so we’re probably right”. I mean what was the point, aside from providing a new report that the media can focus on.
>Dame Caroline Dinenage, who chairs the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, said: “The data collected in this report delivers a stark message to policymakers: mobile phones disrupt education and worsen educational outcomes.”
>
I mean, it doesn’t. It really doesn’t.
I’m not saying for one moment that banning mobile phones may or may not be beneficial, but I heavily question the motives of these ‘think tanks’ and the way in which they operate. It seems to me, that if you want to get support for a course of action, the best way is to get one of these organisations to perform a quick and cheap ‘study’ so it can form the basis of a news article.
1 Comment
But that does not mean that the banning of mobiles phones caused the higher grades.
As per their report…
>
>The findings, while not demonstrating causality, show a clear **correlation** between an effective phone ban and better school performance, as measured by both Ofsted rating and Progress 8
>**It is possible that these results reflect a third, underlying factor**: for example, it is plausible that schools with firmer behaviour policies across the board are more likely to implement effective bans on mobile phones, and it is these broader behaviour policies that lead to the improved school performance.
That’s a pretty damn plausible underlying factor right there.
The report then goes on to say:
>Nevertheless, particularly taking into account the strong approbation given to effective bans by many school leaders who have implemented effective bans, and the wide range of international evidence demonstrating that effective bans on phones in school can have a positive impact on attainment, attention and other factors such as a reduction in bullying, these results offer further support for implementing an effective ban on smart phones in schools.
This is such a strange way of saying “our results might be horse shit, we don’t know, but look, there are other studies out there which agree with us, so we’re probably right”. I mean what was the point, aside from providing a new report that the media can focus on.
>Dame Caroline Dinenage, who chairs the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, said: “The data collected in this report delivers a stark message to policymakers: mobile phones disrupt education and worsen educational outcomes.”
>
I mean, it doesn’t. It really doesn’t.
I’m not saying for one moment that banning mobile phones may or may not be beneficial, but I heavily question the motives of these ‘think tanks’ and the way in which they operate. It seems to me, that if you want to get support for a course of action, the best way is to get one of these organisations to perform a quick and cheap ‘study’ so it can form the basis of a news article.
Their report, if anyone’s interested:
[https://policyexchange.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Disconnect.pdf](https://policyexchange.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Disconnect.pdf)