Achievement Gap — Stage II

For decades, educators have raised concerns about the achievement gap — the large divergence in learning achievement between low-income and higher-income students in the United States.  With secondary schools increasing reliance on the Internet for teaching and communicating with students, there is a new factor contributing to the achievement gap — the digital divide.  In Education Week (January 20, 2013), Helen Brunner reported these trends:

"Access to the Internet has become a need-to-have — not just a nice-to-have — when it comes to student success....  About 70 percent of teens said that the Internet had been their primary source for a recent school project, and at least 65 percent had gone online to complete their homework.  Teachers routinely assign homework that requires Internet use to complete, and about half of American schools expect to adopt e-textbooks in the next two to three years...."

"Even if students have reliable Internet access at school, many become digitally disconnected when they leave.  This is especially true for those who live in rural or low-income communities, and it makes their homework harder to complete....  The lack of access particularly impacts minorities.  Only 55 percent of African-American and 57 percent of Hispanic households are able to access the Internet from home, and only 50 percent of residents in rural areas have high-speed Internet, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce."

"Without access to the Internet, students can't take advantage of the numerous innovative tools that have democratized learning...."

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