In a recent article, the Associated Press estimated that 17% of students – 3 million students – don’t have a computer at home. The estimate is that 18% don’t have broadband at home. That same article referenced a major study performed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), an agency inside of the US Department of Education. That study compared test scores for 8th grade students both with and without a home computer. The results showed:
- On tests of reading comprehension, students who have a computer at home had an average score of 268 compared to a score of 247 for students without a computer.
- In testing for mathematics, students with a computer at home scored 285, while those without score 262.
- In testing science, students with a computer scored 156 compared to 136 for students without a computer.
- In testing competency in information and communication technology, students with a home computer scores 152, compared to 128 for students without a home computer.
The NCES also gathered statistics from around the world and they found that in 34 out of 37 countries that students with a home computer outperformed students without a computer in mathematics.
It’s not easy to gather this data. Student populations change every school year. There are also numerous kids in gray areas. For example, there are many students trying to do homework on smartphones – somewhere between having a home computer and not. There are also temporary broadband solutions such as school systems and libraries that lend hot spots to some students.
I’ve worked with several school systems that provide laptops or tablets to all students and then struggle with having to deal with rural students that don’t have a home broadband connection. NCES reports that teachers often modify their curriculum to not disadvantage students without home broadband – literally dumbing down courses for everybody to account for the fact that some students don’t have home broadband.
The homework gap is a problem because other studies have shown that lagging behind in school carries over into adult life. For example, students that lag in school drop out of school at a much higher rate and enroll in college at a much lower rate. Other studies have shown that students that don’t finish high school or enroll in college earn significantly less over a lifetime than students that graduate and/or get at least some college.
When rural communities come to me looking for a broadband solution, the homework gap is often the number one issue. Parents often have to make extraordinary efforts to find access to broadband – such as driving to town nightly to sit outside of hotspots. These parents are among the most vocal proponents for broadband. I’ve found that in rural communities the support for getting broadband for students run deep. My consulting company conducts surveys, and in rural communities we find nearly universal support for finding a local solution for the homework gap.
NCES is worried that the homework gap is growing as more school systems migrate their curriculum online. It’s getting harder for schools to try to accommodate students without broadband or home computers. As a country we pay a lot of lip service to the topic of finding a rural broadband solution – politicians and regulators seem to talk about it non-stop. But if we don’t find a solution there is one thing we know for sure – those 3 million students are not going to do perform as well as everybody else – and that’s a problem that affects all of us. We have to do better.