The authors analyzed data for individual student performance on high-stake exams before and after a ban on cell phones in school (130,482 observations) and found an overall increase of 5.67% of a standard deviation in across-school and across-year test scores.
 

When student characteristics, prior peer achievement, and changes in school leadership/policies were taken into account, the average student's test results in a school that banned cell phones were 6.41% of a standard deviation higher than scores from students at schools that allowed cell phones.
 

A particularly striking finding was that the overall improvements in test results were led by the lowest-achieving students and banning cell phones had no significant impact on high-achieving students. This led the authors to suggest that restrictions on cell phones may be a low-cost way to reduce educational inequalities.

Johns Hopkins University 

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