Two-thirds of the 475 parents who responded to a recent Wyckoff School District technology survey said they believe school-day screen time is currently too high, the Board of Education's Curriculum and Instruction committee reported at its June 29 meeting.[1]

The survey is the district's response to months of public pressure from parents who have asked the board to scale back classroom use of Chromebooks and digital learning platforms, a campaign that gained momentum at the board's June 8 meeting. Lou Cicerchia, reporting for the Curriculum and Instruction committee, said the administration presented the survey findings and outlined next steps to work with each school "to identify potential opportunities for reduction," beginning with an evaluation of device usage during instructional blocks and at times such as lunch and recess.[1]

The administration is also reviewing student performance data to determine where iReady — the district's adaptive math and reading platform — can be streamlined, the committee said, "exploring options to adjust user numbers or minute allocations based on where the tool demonstrates the greatest academic value."[2]

The survey results drew sustained public comment, including a new line of concern about student data. Mia Joudeh, of Kaitlin Lane, told the board her fifth-grade daughter had been asked a series of opinion questions at the end of an iReady vocabulary lesson — questions the child found uncomfortable and recognized were not measuring what she had learned. Her daughter took screenshots of the prompts, Joudeh said — among them, statements asking the student to rate her agreement that "18 year olds should be eligible to run for president" and that she "would voice support for a law that lowers the driving age."[3]

"These are opinion based questions about laws, public policy, and personal characteristics," Joudeh said. "There are no right or wrong answers, so they could not meaningfully measure vocabulary and understanding." She said such questions "can be used for political, attitudinal, and behavioral profiling" and asked whether the district knew the questions were being posed, how student responses were stored and analyzed, and whether opinions were being collected without parental consent.[4] "Our children should not have to recognize for themselves when a learning platform has crossed the boundary," she said.

iReady's publisher, Curriculum Associates, lists the learning data it collects in its privacy policy for the platform as responses to multiple-choice questions, assessment results and lesson performance, alongside demographic and technical data; the policy makes no mention of opinion or attitudinal questions.[7] It says the company obtains consent through the school or district "acting on behalf of the Student's Parent," rather than from parents directly.[8] In December, four California students and their families filed a federal class-action lawsuit, M.C. v. Curriculum Associates, alleging the company collects and shares students' data without proper consent and transmits it to outside vendors;[9] the company has called the claims "legally meritless," saying it does not sell student data to third parties, use it for advertising or build commercial profiles on students.[10]

Eleni Siderias, of Woodside Road, framed her remarks around educational research, telling the board that "talking is not teaching and clicking is not learning" and that true personalization responds to "attention, regulation, emotion, engagement and the whole child in the present moment."[5] "And you know the only educational resource that can do that?" she said. "A teacher."

Abby Kalter, of Albemarle Street, urged the board to move from studying the issue to acting on it. "Today, I'm asking the board to create an actionable plan, not just review the data, to move beyond the current Chromebook practices, not just iReady," she said.[6] Kalter compared the rollback of one-to-one devices to past shifts in public attitudes on seat belts and indoor smoking, arguing that "progress happens only when we're willing to change as new evidence emerges." "There's no reason for a kindergartener, a first grader, or even a second grader to be sitting in the lunchroom on a Chromebook," she said.

Speakers repeatedly credited the board and the superintendent for commissioning the survey and for signaling a willingness to act. "I am very happy to hear that you are listening to this survey," Joudeh said, "and I'm looking forward to hear the changes that are to come."