Students, teachers see positive outcomes from digital hall passes and cellphone expectations

Rachael Kluck-Spann and John Matzen are big believers in the positive impacts of the digital hall pass system at Lincoln Public Schools.
 
Kluck-Spann and Matzen, who are principals at Irving Middle School and Southwest High School, watched the LPS initiative help students and teachers in many ways last year. 

LPS implemented new expectations for personal electronic devices for all grades and introduced digital hall passes at high schools to address student behavior and support educators in the Fall 2023 semester. 

Early success with the digital hall passes at the high school level led Goodrich and Irving middle schools to pilot programs last spring. The results were impressive enough that LPS will add the technology at all other middle schools this fall.

Kluck-Spann and Matzen said the systems have improved student safety, classroom engagement and academic performance. 
 
“I would say the district electronic guidelines and the implementation of the digital hall pass positively impacted our learning environment in classrooms and throughout the building,” Kluck-Spann said. “Students were more engaged in classroom objectives, lessons and activities, and teachers were able to focus on instruction and the art of teaching.”
 
“There was a drastic change in the number of students in the hallway, which meant there was a drastic increase in instructional time,” Matzen said. “For one tool (digital hall pass) to be able to make that much change was amazing. It exceeded my expectations.”

 
LPS Director of Secondary Education Jessie Fries said she was pleased with how the new district wide expectations and systems have increased student and staff wellbeing, which are two focuses of the school district’s new strategic plan.
 
“I just am really proud of our secondary schools for being willing to think about the impact that instructional time and student engagement plays in student achievement,” Fries said. “These are new systems and guidelines that we’ve put in place with the emphasis that we want to support teaching and learning.”
 
The digital hall pass system manages student requests throughout the school day. Students can discreetly ask teachers for electronic passes through their Chromebook by identifying both their current location and their destination (restroom, locker, etc.). Teachers can approve requests either from their own device or the student’s computer.

 
Administrators can limit the number of available passes at one time for both the entire building and specific locations. The digital system knows how many passes are currently being used, and it also helps prevent possible behavior situations by ensuring safety plans are being followed. Teachers can always allow students to use a pass if there is an urgent need by the student.
 
At Southwest, for example, an online pass turns yellow if a student is out of a classroom for more than ten minutes. Adults can then locate the student and determine if there is a safety issue that needs to be addressed.
 
Based on early feedback from teachers, Fries said a new auto pass feature also received enthusiastic reviews during a trial period in some classrooms. Students can start their own digital pass and then raise their hands for permission to leave. Teachers only need to give students a thumbs-up sign, which allows them to continue leading the class without any interruptions.
 
Southwest business teacher Josh Hinrichs said he was happy with the platform. Hinrichs, who has been teaching for 17 years, said it has improved all parts of the classroom experience.
 
“I love the digital hall pass program,” Hinrichs said. “I was skeptical at first because I liked what I had used in my classroom, but it’s easy for students and easy for teachers. I was really excited when they added an auto pass. I think it cuts down on distractions, and if you have a good system in place within your classroom, it’s easy to use.”
 
In Irving’s springtime pilot program, students could use digital hall passes twice each day. Administrators established that only 17 students could be out of class at any one time in the building.
 
Kluck-Spann said the results were eye-opening. Irving’s overall tardiness-to-class numbers decreased by 28 percent from the first semester. Ninety percent of students passed all of their courses during the second semester, and behavior expectations became consistent across campus.
 
LPS students and teachers also had good experiences with new cellphone expectations last school year. High school students need to keep phones powered off and out of sight during classes. They can use them before and after school, in between class periods and during lunch.
 
Fries and LPS Director of Student Services Ryan Zabawa worked with secondary principals on establishing the plan. They gathered feedback from student leadership groups at four high schools after it started.

 
Fries said students provided positive reactions. They had more face-to-face conversations with classmates and teachers because they could not use their phones. They spent available minutes at the end of class on homework assignments, which increased their confidence in their time management skills. The policy also decreased their stress levels because they used time in class to start or complete their work.
 
Students also said they felt safer at school. The number of high school suspensions from physical altercations dropped by more than 15 percent from 2022-23 to 2023-24.
 
“When you think about those little things that might help a student feel more connected to peers, connected to adults, less overwhelmed, and more on top of things, I think it’s been a really positive change, especially at the high school level,” Fries said.
 
Matzen and Hinrichs said those healthy stories have happened at Southwest, which piloted cellphone expectations in the Spring 2023 semester. All LPS buildings later adopted plans tailored for middle and high school students. The expectations around personal electronic devices for elementary students continued as before and were reinforced.
 
“Students have been able to be more focused,” Hinrichs said. “They can hopefully use their time better in class. Maybe that means less struggles with homework, maybe that means less overall homework, maybe that means better comprehension before they take a test or start working on a project. And, hopefully, better grades.”
 
“Before, you’d see a table of eight kids all on their individual devices and not talking in the lunchroom,” Matzen said. “As the cellphone expectation has been rolled out, I’ve seen more students who are choosing to talk to each other during their lunch period, even though they have that option of being on the phone. It’s been really nice to see that happen.”

 
Fries said she believes students and staff members will continue to see the positive impact from these changes.
 
“When we learn new things, it does take work. It does take creating new habits,” Fries said. “I’m really proud that our teachers and leaders have been willing to try something that has led to positive outcomes.”
 
To learn more about the LPS 2024-2029 Strategic Plan, visit our website at https://home.lps.org/strategicplan/.

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