Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools families asked the CMS Board of Education on Tuesday to reduce technology use in classrooms, urging the school board to rethink policies that provide every student with a device and to reconsider the online platform i-Ready.
At the board meeting, families said students are spending too much time in front of screens, despite growing research on the negative effects of excessive screen time. Some called on the district to reduce device use with more expansive phone bans and by revisiting one-to-one device initiatives. Families also bemoaned excessive testing on screens.
Parents like Nikita Desai also urged leaders to allow families to opt out of personal devices for students. She pointed to evidence on technology’s impact on attention and behavior. She said personal devices for students became more prominent during the pandemic “with the best of intentions.”
“They have not been the great equalizer that we’d hoped,” Nikita Desai said. “The risks of personal screen devices in the classroom for young, elementary school children are worse than any small benefit.”
Much of the criticism focused on i‑Ready, an online program CMS students use for about 90 minutes each week.
WFAE reported last week on a growing pushback to tech in schools, and to i-Ready, an educational platform used by thousands of school districts nationwide that’s been garnering scrutiny in recent months, with parents questioning its efficacy and many students expressing frustrations with the program.
Sedgefield Montessori student Anastasia Bates told the board she collected a petition of 250 students asking CMS to remove the program.
The district’s contract for i‑Ready expires this month, and families asked the board not to renew it.
CMS told WFAE that i‑Ready and technology in general is used to support — not replace — high-quality teaching. The district says i-Ready is not part of core curriculum and is used as a “targeted instructional resources.”
“While technology is one instructional tool available to students, the majority of the school day is still spent on teacher-led instruction, classroom discussions, reading, writing, collaborative learning, hands-on activities, problem-solving, physical activity and other non-digital learning experiences.”
CMS says students use i-Ready for 45 minutes per week in reading and 45 minutes per week in math. But in most classrooms, this time is “spread across multiple days,” the district says, rather than in a single, extended time period.
