This school year, FCPS’ School Board requested the Division pilot new approaches to storing cell phones in schools. A Cell Phone Storage Pilot program was developed and is being implemented in select middle and high schools.

In order to understand experiences with device rules and new approaches to managing cell phones, the FCPS Chief Equity Office will be inviting students, families, and teachers at all 30 schools participating in the Cell Phone Storage Pilot, either as storage schools or comparison schools, to complete a 5-10 minute survey between Monday, September 30 and Friday, October 11.

All surveys are optional. Only FCPS’ research staff will have access to the responses in their secure survey platform. Results from the student, family, and teacher surveys will help inform FCPS’ decisions about cell phone rules and student cell phone management for this school year and future years.

What are the Cell Phone Storage Pilot Surveys?

FCPS is interested to learn about the experiences of students, families, and teachers with cell phone rules and new approaches to storing and managing electronic devices such as cell phones, smartwatches, and headphones such as AirPods and earbuds at school. Three surveys have been developed to help understand the student, family, and teacher experience. Student and family surveys will be available in multiple languages.

• The Student Survey will include questions to measure student report on classroom management, academic engagement, personal and classroom level electronic device classroom management, digital stress, satisfaction of cell phone pilot and reasons why, and how easy it is to comply with the cell phone pilot.

• The Family Survey will include questions about the awareness of cell phone guidelines, cell phone discipline experience, satisfaction with the cell phone pilot, and how easy it is to comply with the cell phone pilot.

• The Teacher Survey will include questions about classroom management, cell phone classroom management, satisfaction with the cell phone pilot, and how easy it is to comply with school’s guidelines for student cell phone use.

Who will take the Cell Phone Storage Pilot Surveys?

Students and teachers at middle and high schools participating in the Cell Phone Storage Pilot either as storage or comparison schools will be asked to participate in the Cell Phone Storage Pilot surveys. Parents and caregivers of students attending these schools will also be asked to participate in the family version of the survey. A list of participating middle and high schools can be found below.

When will the Surveys Happen?

Week of September 23-27

• Families will receive an email notification with information about the three Cell Phone Storage Pilot surveys. 

Monday, September 30

• Students will receive an email with the link to the Student Cell Phone Storage Pilot survey at their fcpsschools.net email address. Students will complete the survey at school sometime during the school day, as determined by individual schools. 

• Teachers will receive an email invitation at their fcps.edu email address to complete the Teacher Cell Phone Storage Pilot survey.

• Families will receive an email invitation to complete the Family Cell Phone Storage Pilot survey at the primary caregiver’s email address. If there is no email address available, the survey link will be sent by text message to the cell phone number on file. The survey will be translated into several languages for families. 

Friday, October 11

• All surveys close. 

What will FCPS do with Survey Responses?

Responses to the surveys from parents, students, and teachers at schools participating in the Cell Phone Storage Pilot will help inform FCPS’ decisions about cell phone rules and student cell phone management for this school year and future years. Remember, survey responses will be collected confidentially. No one who responds to the survey will be associated with responses in any report of the survey results. The results of surveys will also help FCPS plan the questions to follow-up on during focus groups about the cell phone pilot.

How will students take the Cell Phone Storage Pilot Survey?

The survey is voluntary. There is no penalty if a child does not want to participate. The survey is designed to protect your child’s privacy and is confidential. Students can skip any questions they do not want to answer and can stop taking the survey at any point. It is completely their choice.

Students at pilot middle and high schools will take the survey during school between Monday, September 30 and Friday, October 11, 2024. Each school will identify the best date and time for their students to participate in the survey. The survey link will be emailed to students’ fcpsschools.net accounts and school staff will lead students in taking the survey. The survey will be translated into several languages for students. 

If you do not wish for your child to participate, please tell them to disregard the email survey invitation they will receive in their fcpsschools.net account on September 30. On the day the survey is administered, students can also choose not to participate.

What is in the Student Cell Phone Storage Pilot Survey?

The Student Cell Phone Storage Pilot survey will take most students about 5-10 minutes to complete.

Questions?

If you have questions, please contact Mary Richardson at [email protected].