SCHOOL BOARDS
SET TECH POLICY

More than half of teachers and administrators said off-task technology use was a major problem, and one-third reported that students using devices for learning were off task more than a quarter of the time.

Recent studies report negative correlations between prolonged digital device usage and academic performance, particularly in mathematics, with each additional hour of digital device use associated with an average 3-point decrease in math scores among Korean adolescents in PISA 2022 data.

The U.S. spent more than $30 billion putting laptops and tablets in schools in 2024. Despite 88% of public schools now having 1:1 computing, American students are worse at reading and math than they were in 2015, and no better than in 2005. The OECD found "no appreciable improvements in student achievement in countries that had invested heavily in ICT for education."

Unstructured, unsupported access tends to correlate with worse outcomes — especially for lower-income and lower-achieving students. The critical variable is pedagogical intentionality, not access.

Students using devices for less than 30 min scored 26 points higher than those using them 4+ hours — roughly two years' worth of learning. Heavy digital users were nearly twice as likely to score below basic, while light users were nearly twice as likely to score at the advanced proficiency level.

A longitudinal study of K–3 classrooms found that EdTech's efficiency "has been exaggerated compared to its actual outcomes" and identified a gap-widening effect — meaning EdTech may actually increase inequality between high-achieving and disadvantaged students rather than close it.

Fourth-grade students who used tablets in "all or almost all" classes scored 14 points lower on reading than students who never used classroom tablets — equivalent to an entire year of schooling or a full grade level (Reboot Foundation, using 2017 NAEP data).