At least 39 states have passed legislation restricting student cellphone use since 2023. According to a new white paper from Learning.com and Whiteboard Advisors, device restrictions can reduce distractions during school hours; however, they don’t necessarily equip kids with the skills they need to manage attention, social pressure, or algorithm-driven content outside the classroom.

Drawing on interviews with superintendents, state edtech directors, researchers, and practitioners, Beyond the Smartphone Ban surfaces a set of tensions worth sitting with.

Cellphone bans don’t solve the cellphone problem: According to Julia Fallon, executive director of SETDA, 3 out of 4 state education leaders have adopted device restrictions or are considering them, but only 60% reported that their state is actively supporting digital citizenship education for students. "A cellphone policy can reclaim attention during the hours students are in school, but it cannot do the rest of the work on its own," said Fallon.

Learning.com CEO Lisa O'Masta puts the challenge in even starker terms: "Bans can't be the end. They have to be the beginning of the conversation. When you do finally get your phone back in your hands, how are you going to react to it?"

The most effective digital literacy instruction happens in 15 minutes, not 15 weeks: The paper makes clear that schools can't wait for a dedicated course or curriculum overhaul to start building student digital skills. What's working is instruction that's fast, integrated, and immediately relevant.

O'Masta described one classroom activity that illustrates the point: a teacher has students download TikTok's license agreement, feeds it into ChatGPT, and asks the AI to summarize how the platform uses their data. In a single lesson, students learn how to write a prompt, understand what a license agreement actually says, and discover that the app is collecting far more than they realized. The outcome: nearly half of students remove TikTok from their phones after the lesson.

Schools need a partner that can keep up: Technology, the white paper notes, will always outpace curriculum. Generative AI tools update constantly; so does the landscape of threats students face, from deepfakes to data exploitation to weaponized misinformation.

The paper lays out a framework for what districts should look for in a digital literacy partner: alignment with ISTE and state standards, a full-stack solution that evolves in real time, flexibility for lessons of varying lengths, compatibility across learning management platforms, and meaningful reporting for accountability. As one district technology leader put it, what teachers ultimately want is "some type of framework or guidance with resources they can deliver that isn't a heavy lift."

What does it really mean for students to build “fluency” in math and literacy, and how should districts support that development at scale?

For many systems, fluency has long been associated with speed and memorization. But leading districts are now taking a broader view that connects conceptual understanding, procedural skill, and application, and begins with strong foundational skills in math and literacy in early grades.

This CGCS Instructional Spotlight webinar brings together national experts and implementation leaders to explore how districts are redefining fluency and what it takes to make that vision real in classrooms. Grounded in real-world district experience, this conversation will offer practical insights for leaders working to strengthen teaching and learning across their systems.

🗓️ Wednesday, April 1 at 3 p.m. ET

This week, NCFDD—a professional development organization for university faculty—released the findings of its 2026 State of Faculty Development Survey, which aims to assess the current faculty experience in higher ed and how faculty development priorities are changing. For this year’s survey, NCFDD collected responses from more than 1,000 faculty and academic leaders across more than 300 colleges and universities in the U.S.

Nearly two-thirds (63.9%) of respondents said that their personal wellbeing had declined over the past year, with early-career and adjunct faculty and faculty and research-intensive institutions hit hardest. Respondents pointed to limited autonomy, concerns about job security, and rising service expectations as primary drivers.

At the same time, faculty feel they aren’t getting the support they need—personal or professional—to be successful.

Many faculty reported turning elsewhere for support. 64% of respondents rely on peer or social networks, compared to 31% who lean on institution-wide networks outside of their department. Faculty have even paid out of pocket for supports that fill the gap. [The EDU Ledger]

“Faculty are being asked to do more than ever at a moment when institutions are grappling with real financial constraints,” said Dr. Brian Bridges, former New Jersey secretary of higher education and W/A senior advisor. “It has important consequences for teaching quality, research capacity and student success. If institutions are serious about strengthening outcomes and rebuilding trust in higher education, investing in faculty support must be part of the equation.”

Hosted by ISTE+ASCD and Whiteboard Advisors, the Solutions Summit is a one-day, exclusive event that convenes leaders from across the education ecosystem. This year’s Summit will be held on Sunday, June 28, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and will feature a mix of interactive panels and small-group activities focused on real-world decision-making, product impact, and the future of learning.

This week, W/A's Matt Tower sat down with Shannon Godfrey and Julia Gustafson, co-founders of The Commons, to explore the challenges and solutions around managing cellphone use in schools, who emphasized the importance of student agency, digital literacy, and modern approaches to a public health issue. Shannon and Julia shared their backgrounds, how they developed The Commons app, and their vision for the future of cellphone policy in education.

Yesterday, ED shared plans to relocate its headquarters from the Lyndon B. Johnson building to a smaller office nearby, at 500 D Street SW. The Department—which has reduced its staff by about half since the start of President Trump’s second term and reassigned some of its responsibilities to other agencies—says that the move will save taxpayers $4.8 million annually. ED’s current space will be taken over by the Department of Energy, which operates in the James V. Forrestal building. [NPR]

On Tuesday, a U.S. district judge extended a temporary restraining order on the Trump administration’s expanded IPEDS data reporting requirements. The new requirements, called the Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement, aim to uncover race-based preferencing in admissions and impact all four-year institutions that receive federal funding. The extension is limited to public institutions in the 17 states represented in the lawsuit and pushes the reporting deadline for these schools to April 6; the original deadline was March 18. [Inside Higher Ed]

Check out W/A Jobs, which features 3,922 career opportunities from 316 organizations across the education industry. A few roles that caught our eye over the past week: