Schools across America are quietly admitting that screens in classrooms made students worse off and are reversing years of tech-first policies

Schools across the United States, including McPherson Middle School in Kansas and districts in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Michigan, and Maine, are reversing years of tech-first education policies by scaling back or eliminating school-issued Chromebooks. Administrators cite research showing that classroom technology implementation has coincided with declining or stagnant test scores, and note that students used devices primarily for distraction rather than learning. Schools are returning to traditional note-taking while reserving devices only for specific teacher-assigned activities.