Resources on Screen-Time Reduction, Christian Nationalism Now Available

While not specific to K-12 distance, online, and/or blended learning, the screen time items likely have some relevance.

Resources on Screen-Time Reduction, Christian Nationalism Now Available Screen use in schools and Christian nationalism’s role in education are the topics of two video talks newly available online. The one-hour discussions, which took place during NEPC’s annual Fellows meeting last month, are free to access online. The discussion on devices and screen time took place between Faith Boninger and Tiana Sims Beachler. Boninger is NEPC’s Publications Manager; Beacher chairs the school board in Burke County Public Schools, a 12,000-student school district in western North Carolina. Earlier this year, Beachler led a successful effort to pass a resolution that urges teachers to prioritize paper-and-pencil learning over screen time unless using technology would provide clear instructional advantages. The initiative’s goal was to respond to the concerns of parents and educators who were worried that students were being exposed to too much screen time. Beachler told Boninger: What the resolution says is that while we understand that there will be a need for technology in some facets of education K through 12, a lot of this we can pull back, especially when it comes to elementary ed, so K through 5. Their hour-long discussion covers the Burke County policy as well as the broader set of related issues confronting educators and educational leaders. Additional resources on educational technology are available through NEPC’s Commercialism in Education Research Unit, which Boninger co-directs. For the discussion of Christian nationalism, Jon Sawyer, an NEPC doctoral student researcher, interviewed NEPC Fellow Kevin Kumashiro, founding chair of the national network, Education Deans for Justice and Equity, and former Dean of the Schools of Education at the University of San Francisco and Hofstra University. In a recent report, Kumashiro defines Christian nationalism as a world vision, a religious ideology, and a social and political movement based on the idea that Christianity (or at least, some people’s interpretation of Christianity) was, is, and should be the center of nation building; it is one form of Christian supremacy. Kumashiro and Sawyer discuss Christian nationalism historically and examine its contemporary relevance—how understanding Christian nationalism helps us understand the attacks on DEI and the push for school privatization. For those interested in learning more about Christian Nationalism after listening to the discussion, NEPC also published a report recently on the movement’s influence on education policy. This newsletter is made possible in part by support provided by the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice: http://www.greatlakescenter.org The National Education Policy Center (NEPC), a university research center housed at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education, sponsors research, produces policy briefs, and publishes expert third-party reviews of think tank reports. NEPC publications are written in accessible language and are intended for a broad audience that includes academic experts, policymakers, the media, and the general public. Our mission is to provide high-quality information in support of democratic deliberation about education policy.  We are guided by the belief that the democratic governance of public education is strengthened when policies are based on sound evidence and support a multiracial society that is inclusive, kind, and just. Visit us at: http://nepc.colorado.edu/ Copyright 2025 National Education Policy Center. All rights reserved.