Final Personal Electronic Devices Presentation 043025

Board of Education Meeting April 30, 2025

Presentation Overview ● Update since we implemented new practices this year ● Share discipline data ● Share survey information ● Outline next steps

Overall Goal To foster a more focused and productive learning environment, while allowing students to thrive academically and personally while also acknowledging the unique situations of each grade span.

Current Practices - 2024-2025 Wydown Middle School ● Cell phones must be turned off and put away at all times. Smart watches and similar wearable devices should be placed in airplane or school mode. As a reminder, students should only access the internet through district-provided networks during the school day. Unauthorized use will result in progressive disciplinary consequences.

Clayton High School ● Our goal at CHS is always to maintain a distraction free, academic environment at all times. With this in mind, the use of electronic devices such as (but not limited to) cell phones and earbuds is prohibited during instructional time. Smart watches and similar wearable devices should be placed in airplane or school mode. The expectation is that all students will have these devices put away during instructional time unless the teacher has given permission for use in a specific instructional activity. Students who violate the personal electronic device expectations will be subject to progressive disciplinary consequences including, but not limited to, loss of privileges. Exceptions to this rule may apply based on accommodations included in a student’s 504, IEP or health plan. As a reminder, students should only access the internet through district-provided networks during the school day. Parents needing to contact students during school hours are encouraged to contact the main office at 314-854-6600 and the message will be delivered to your student.

Discipline Data 2024-2025 ● Wydown ○ Number Cell Phone Confiscations: 169 ○ Repeating Offenders: 66 ● Clayton High School ○ Number Cell Phone Confiscations: 40 ○ Repeating Offenders: 3

Panorama ● Survey tool used by the District to gain insight into students’ perceptions about teaching and learning, sense of belonging, school climate, etc. ● In spring 2025, we administered the survey to all secondary faculty and all secondary students ○ Faculty ■ WMS - 54 responses- 73% ■ CHS - 89 responses- 82% ○ Students ■ WMS- 547 responses - 89% ■ CHS- 667 responses - 83% ● Survey three areas ○ Cell phone impact ○ Cell phone practices (policy) impact ○ Cell phone practices (policy) implementation

WMS Faculty Responses Cell Phone Impact ● Use in Class: ○ 98% of teachers almost never ask students to use phones for schoolwork. ● Effect on Learning: ○ 76% believe phones hurt learning to some extent. ● Effect on Safety: ○ 2% find phones helpful; 79% find them harmful or somewhat harmful.

Impact of current practices ● Effectiveness for Learning: ○ 92% say the current practices help learning, especially those who see them helping “a great deal” (86%). ● Student Engagement: ○ 91% say current practices support engagement at least somewhat. ● Creating a Safe Environment: ○ 93% say the practices help create a safe school environment. ● Improving Social Interaction: ○ 90% say the practices support students engaging with one another. ● Policy Effectiveness: ○ 97% find them at least somewhat effective, with 62% call them “extremely effective”. WMS Faculty Responses

Implementation of current practices ● Clarity of Practices: ○ 92% say the practices are quite or extremely clear. ● Communication: ○ 96% say they’ve been clearly communicated to students. ○ 96% say they’ve been clearly communicated to families. ● Consistency of Enforcement: ○ 89% say they’re enforced quite or extremely consistently. ● Leadership Support: ○ 93% feel well supported by leadership in implementing the practices. ● Ease of Enforcement: ○ 99% find it easy or somewhat easy to enforce the practices. WMS Faculty Responses

CHS Faculty Responses Cell Phone Impact ● Use in Class: ○ 50% of teachers almost never ask students to use phones for schoolwork. ● Effect on Learning: ○ 77% believe phones hurt learning to some extent. ● Effect on Safety: ○ 12% find phones helpful; 50% find them harmful or somewhat harmful.

Impact of current practices ● Effectiveness for Learning: ○ 77% say the practices help learning, especially those who see them helping “a great deal” (32%). ● Student Engagement: ○ 73% say the practices support engagement at least somewhat. ● Creating a Safe Environment: ○ 61% say the practices help create a safe school environment. ● Improving Social Interaction: ○ 63% say the practices support students engaging with one another. ● Practices Effectiveness: ○ 82% find them at least somewhat effective, 13% call them “extremely effective”. CHS Faculty Responses

Implementation of current practices ● Clarity of Practices: ○ 74% say the practices are quite or extremely clear. ● Communication: ○ 75% say they’ve been clearly communicated to students. ○ 70% say they’ve been clearly communicated to families. ● Consistency of Enforcement: ○ 36% say they’re enforced quite or extremely consistently. ● Leadership Support: ○ 79% feel well supported by leadership in implementing the practices. ● Ease of Enforcement: ○ 60% find it easy or somewhat easy to enforce the practices. CHS Faculty Responses

WMS Student Responses Cell Phone Impact ● Distraction & Use in Class: ○ 76% say students rarely use phones for non-class purposes. ○ 82% say phone use by others is not very distracting. ● Bullying via Phones: ○ 69% say it “almost never” happens. ● Phones for Schoolwork: ○ 83% say teachers almost never ask students to use phones in class. ● Phone Ownership: ○ 67% bring phones to school “almost all the time”; 23% never do. ● Impact on Learning: ○ 69% say phones neither hurt nor help learning. ● Impact on Safety: ○ 46% say phones neither help nor hurt safety; 22% say they help a lot. ● Impact on Friendships: ○ Mixed: 37% say phones help friendships to some degree; 20% say they hurt.

WMS Student Responses Cell Phone Practices Impact ● Learning: ○ 50% say rules neither help nor hurt learning. ● Paying Attention: ○ 57% say rules make no difference in paying attention. ● Safety: ○ 26% say rules help safety; 33% feel they hurt it. ● Friendships: ○ Majority (57%) say rules have no effect.

WMS Student Responses Cell Phone Practices Implementation ● Clarity of Rules: ○ 78% say rules are clear (43% “extremely,” 35% “very”). ● Student Compliance: ○ 48% say students follow rules “very” or “extremely” well. ● Staff Enforcement: ○ 81% say staff are likely to enforce rules when they see violations.

CHS Student Responses Cell Phone Impact ● Distraction: ○ 83% of students find others using phones in class distracting. ● Usage for Non-Class Purposes: ○ 47% say students use phones “sometimes” or more during class. ● Bullying via Phones: ○ 67% say it's “almost never.” ● Phones Used for Schoolwork: ○ 75% say teachers “once in a while” or “sometimes” ask them to use phones. ● Impact on Learning: ○ 48% say phones neither help nor hurt learning; 12% say they help “a great deal.” ● Impact on Safety: ○ 33% feel phones help school safety “a great deal.” ● Impact on Friendships: ○ 47% say phones help friendships to some extent.

CHS Student Responses Cell Phone Practices Impact ● Learning: ○ 53% say the practices neither help nor hurt learning. ● Paying Attention: ○ 59% say the rules make no difference in attention. ● Safety: ○ Mixed opinions; 18% feel the rules help safety. ● Friendships: ○ 62% say rules have no effect on friendships.

CHS Student Responses Cell Phone Policy Implementation ● Clarity of Rules: ○ 55% say rules are clear (17% “extremely,” 38% “very”, ). ■ 65% of class of 2028 ■ 44% of class of 2025 ● Student Compliance: ○ 34% think students follow rules “very” or “extremely” well. 8% “not well at all” ■ 44% of class of 2028 ■ 21% of class of 2025 ● Staff Enforcement: ○ 54% say it’s likely an adult will intervene if rules are broken. 3% not likely. ■ 64% of class of 2028 ■ 46% of class of 2025

Updates: Digital Citizenship Curriculum ● Elementary ○ Added a digital citizenship component in spring ● Wydown Middle School ○ Digital safety as a part of Health curriculum ■ Digital footprint ■ Online reputation ■ Sexting ■ Online predators ■ Cyber bullying ● Clayton High School ○ Added #half the story to CHS health curriculum - will not continue after 2024-2025 school year

In Summary… This is a cultural shift. As we continue on this journey, we will: ● Use formalized presentations at all class meetings around the practices and expectations ● Use leadership team meetings to continue to refine practices ● Ensure all teachers have a dedicated place for phones to be stored during teaching and learning time ● Continue to partner with Wellness Center, Ed Techs and All In Coalition for parent education events ● Note cell phone violations in teacher observations for discussions with individual teachers

The School District of Clayton Questions?

The School District of Clayton