Photo from Getty Images
for CL
After the new changes in West’s phone policy, spurred by first-year principal Daniel Kigeya, over 100 West students have been tracked for phone usage this year without their knowledge, and the number continues to grow.
This entire investigation started with a strange email from administration. A classmate of Ella Darley’s was invited to a phone usage circle. The student who was asked to attend the circle wasn’t asked by a teacher, nor did she request one herself. To Darley, it seemed like an intervention. “They believed she was addicted to her phone,” said Darley, “This is the first time I have seen this happen at West and I am confused”. But if neither the student nor the teacher requested a circle, how did the administrative team know she was addicted?
“The School district, whether you know it or not, has been collecting all of this data on you guys'' explains Spanish teacher Seth Fischer. The database Educlimber tracks all behavioral issues such as fighting, drug usage, and truancy at the district level. This year, phone usage was added to that list. “Educlimber is what we use to capture behavior data,” says Mr. Kigeya, “You inappropriately use your phone… and [student's data] goes into that.” While notifying the student of the report was recommended to teachers by Mr. Kigeya, it is not explicitly required in the phone policy, leading to students being unaware if they have been tracked.
A solution for phone usage at West was needed according to teachers. “When I talk with my older colleagues,” Says English teacher Timothy McLaughlin, “[phone usage] is the number one issue.” Teachers are concerned about students' effort levels in their class, “Students are selling themselves short,” says Mr. Fischer, “[phone usage] doesn’t impact me as much as it impacts students.” With lessons becoming more difficult to teach, and students' effort levels dropping, teachers wanted a change for this year, but should the database be part of that solution? “[The phone policy] needs teacher buy-in,” Says McLaughlin, “And I don’t think it does.”
This lack of teacher support is paired with a lack of direction from the administrative team.“The policy is laid out clearly for staff,” says Kigeya, “but the classroom is the teachers' space, and they can choose how to enforce the policy.” Teachers had the opportunity to learn about the new policy over the summer, but many could not attend. “We are asked, as teachers, to be members of lots of committees,” says McLaughlin, “Sometimes there is short notice, so our busy schedules make it hard to be part of those discussions.” During the start of the first semester, Mr. Kigeya was confident that he had gotten the message out to enough teachers but expressed concern for enforcement. “The one policy that's talked about more than any other is cell phones,” said Mr. Kigeya, “But there are over 200 staff members at the school, so implementation will be different between classrooms.”
Additionally, the communication about what students are supposed to be aware of has been insufficient. When asked if he was supposed to tell students when he was entering their names on the database, Mr. McLaughlin said he was unsure, and that the school didn’t make it clear. “I don’t think we’re required to tell [students],” said Mr. McLaughlin, “Most teachers are not telling their students.” When told of McLaughlin’s statement, Mr. Kigeya responded, “No no no no, that's not what's supposed to happen.” Despite not being in Kigeya’s plan, secrecy from students is prevalent in the school. Of the students we talked to, not a single one had heard of the database.
Communication between Administrators, Teachers, and students continues to look bleak when it comes to the use of Educlimber. “We need professional development days,” says Mr. McLaughlin, “Teachers know about [The new phone policy], but they don’t know a lot about it.”
While teachers and administrators agree on the severity of the problem, the proposed solution has led to miscommunications, misunderstandings, and secrecy. “I don't think an extreme is the answer,” Says Mclaughlin, “I think it's a losing battle.”
Note: the bolded words at the end are what got cut off in the physical paper
After the new changes in West’s phone policy, spurred by first-year principal Daniel Kigeya, over 100 West students have been tracked for phone usage this year without their knowledge, and the number continues to grow.
This entire investigation started with a strange email from administration. A classmate of Ella Darley’s was invited to a phone usage circle. The student who was asked to attend the circle wasn’t asked by a teacher, nor did she request one herself. To Darley, it seemed like an intervention. “They believed she was addicted to her phone,” said Darley, “This is the first time I have seen this happen at West and I am confused”. But if neither the student nor the teacher requested a circle, how did the administrative team know she was addicted?
“The School district, whether you know it or not, has been collecting all of this data on you guys'' explains Spanish teacher Seth Fischer. The database Educlimber tracks all behavioral issues such as fighting, drug usage, and truancy at the district level. This year, phone usage was added to that list. “Educlimber is what we use to capture behavior data,” says Mr. Kigeya, “You inappropriately use your phone… and [student's data] goes into that.” While notifying the student of the report was recommended to teachers by Mr. Kigeya, it is not explicitly required in the phone policy, leading to students being unaware if they have been tracked.
A solution for phone usage at West was needed according to teachers. “When I talk with my older colleagues,” Says English teacher Timothy McLaughlin, “[phone usage] is the number one issue.” Teachers are concerned about students' effort levels in their class, “Students are selling themselves short,” says Mr. Fischer, “[phone usage] doesn’t impact me as much as it impacts students.” With lessons becoming more difficult to teach, and students' effort levels dropping, teachers wanted a change for this year, but should the database be part of that solution? “[The phone policy] needs teacher buy-in,” Says McLaughlin, “And I don’t think it does.”
This lack of teacher support is paired with a lack of direction from the administrative team.“The policy is laid out clearly for staff,” says Kigeya, “but the classroom is the teachers' space, and they can choose how to enforce the policy.” Teachers had the opportunity to learn about the new policy over the summer, but many could not attend. “We are asked, as teachers, to be members of lots of committees,” says McLaughlin, “Sometimes there is short notice, so our busy schedules make it hard to be part of those discussions.” During the start of the first semester, Mr. Kigeya was confident that he had gotten the message out to enough teachers but expressed concern for enforcement. “The one policy that's talked about more than any other is cell phones,” said Mr. Kigeya, “But there are over 200 staff members at the school, so implementation will be different between classrooms.”
Additionally, the communication about what students are supposed to be aware of has been insufficient. When asked if he was supposed to tell students when he was entering their names on the database, Mr. McLaughlin said he was unsure, and that the school didn’t make it clear. “I don’t think we’re required to tell [students],” said Mr. McLaughlin, “Most teachers are not telling their students.” When told of McLaughlin’s statement, Mr. Kigeya responded, “No no no no, that's not what's supposed to happen.” Despite not being in Kigeya’s plan, secrecy from students is prevalent in the school. Of the students we talked to, not a single one had heard of the database.
Communication between Administrators, Teachers, and students continues to look bleak when it comes to the use of Educlimber. “We need professional development days,” says Mr. McLaughlin, “Teachers know about [The new phone policy], but they don’t know a lot about it.”
While teachers and administrators agree on the severity of the problem, the proposed solution has led to miscommunications, misunderstandings, and secrecy. “I don't think an extreme is the answer,” Says Mclaughlin, “I think it's a losing battle.”
Note: the bolded words at the end are what got cut off in the physical paper