Student access to robust digital tools is key to their success as 21st-century citizens. Yet many students have limited access to these tools both at school and at home. CoSN is working to close the access gap for learning no matter where the students are.
CoSN Project Director for Digital Equity: Lucy Gray, lgray@cosn.org
Defining Digital Equity 2022
Creating a shared understanding of what digital equity is and what district leaders can do to realize digital equity for the students that they serve is more important than ever. CoSN has created this resource to help leaders build a shared understanding of digital equity for their district.
Student Home Internet Connectivity Study
This report is the second year of a breakthrough study on students’ at-home internet connectivity with a special focus on the home-to-school experience. The study fills a critical need among educators and policymakers for detailed insight on students’ learning experiences at home since returning to the classroom.
Seven K-12 urban, suburban and rural school districts from across the United States with approximately 300,000 students participated in the study. Now that most students have returned to their school locations for in-person learning, the study examines how network connectivity has changed. The resulting findings will serve as a guide for school district technology leaders across the United States working to improve online learning equity, especially during after-school hours when students are doing school work from home. Policymakers and educators must not lose sight of the considerable inequities that remain around at-home internet connectivity, especially for at-risk populations.
View our Member Exclusive Briefs for the 2022 Student Home Connectivity Study
Please note that you must be logged in as a member in order to view the following links below
View the latest District Spotlights for the 2022 Student Home Connectivity Study
Conversation Starters
Using data to understand the needs within your district is important component to closing the digital divide. This presentation is intended for CoSN leaders to use as a conversation starter with the leadership teams in their district as a way to help navigate the work that is involved in collecting data in order to realize digital equity. To get started, download the entire presentation and modify for your specific needs. You will find notes that accompany most of the slides to guide you through the presentation. We suggest using this during a leadership team meeting with the intention of it being as much about a conversation with dialogue throughout, as it is a presentation.
Please share this with others, but give attribution to CoSN.
This presentation is intended for CoSN leaders to use as a conversation starter with the leadership teams in their district as a way to help navigate the work that is involved in realizing digital equity for all students. To get started, download the entire presentation and modify for your specific needs. You will find notes that accompany most of the slides to guide you through the presentation. We suggest using this during a leadership team meeting with the intention of it being as much about a conversation with dialogue throughout, as it is a presentation.
Feel free to share this with others, but give attribution to CoSN.
Use This to Guide Your Leadership Team to Support Your Digital Equity Initiative:
Digital Equity Advisory Committee
The CoSN Digital Equity Educator Advisory Board seeks to support school leaders in their efforts to close the digital divide by supporting digital equity and digital inclusion efforts. Members of the committee meet regularly to advise CoSN on issues that districts are facing and offer strategies and resources that could support CoSN members with their digital equity efforts.
Digital Equity in Action
Districts across the country are working to close the digital divide for their students. In these videos you can see first hand how CoSN members are ware working to ensure digital equity.
Desert Sands Unified School District was the winner of the 2021 CoSN Community Leadership for Digital Equity Award Recipient. Learn how DSUSD is creating an equitable digital learning environment for all of their students in this video.
Santa Fe Public School is working hard to close the digital divide for their students. Take a look at the holistic approach that they are taking to ensure digital equity to ensure that every student in the district is prepared for their future.
Additional Digital Equity Resources:
Ready or Not, Here it Comes! Blog Reflecting on Lessons Learned ->
The Digital Equity Act of 2021 ->
Solving Broadband Equity Disparities Webinar Recording ->
Digital Equity Toolkit
Students without home access to high-quality broadband connectivity are at a disadvantage, unable to realize the full power of digital learning. Only three percent of teachers in high-poverty level schools said that their students had the digital tools necessary to complete homework assignments, compared to 52 percent of teachers in more affluent schools—a discrepancy labeled as the "homework gap."
To address this key challenge, CoSN launched the Digital Equity Initiative. This effort recognizes the school districts that are building meaningful community partnerships and creating tools to help district leaders get started in achieving digital equity.
Thank You to Our EdTech Sponsors
