Moving suddenly from on-site, in class, traditional instruction to school closure (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and reopening within 2 weeks in a virtual model was difficult, but we did it. Moreno Valley Community Adult School did not see COVID restrictions as an obstacle to instructional delivery, but as an impetus to pivot into the future and…

In spring 2022, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology (OET) committed to advancing digital equity through the Digital Equity Education Roundtables (DEER) Initiative. Through DEER, OET hosted a series of national conversations with leaders from community-based organizations, as well as families and learners furthest…

The ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated educational inequities for students from institutionally marginalized communities. This article specifically examines the college (in)opportunities and conscious choices of rural Latinx students from California's San Joaquin Valley as they pursued higher education during the pandemic. This…

Many college students experience basic needs insecurity, which includes a lack of--or fear of the lack of--access to healthy food, stable housing, reliable transportation, affordable child care, physical and mental health care services, the internet and technology, and other necessities students need to survive and thrive in a postsecondary…

The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the importance of digital connectivity for learning--while revealing serious inequities in access to broadband and computing devices. For the 2021-22 school year, California has focused on getting as many students as possible back to the classroom. But digital access at home remains essential. As digital tools for…

Demographic studies (Nakamura, 2002) on internet usage often emphasize the position African Americans have as consumers of internet content. Studies (Eastin, 2015; Katz & Rice, 2003; Nakamura, 2002) addressing topics such as internet access, race, and the "digital divide" fail to measure digital production and suggest that…

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) and its state member leaders play a pivotal role in driving high-speed broadband access to all students to best prepare them for college and careers. Complementing the 2016 "State K-12 Broadband Leadership: Driving Connectivity and Access" (see ED569341), this publication…

This document contains the technical appendices for the report "Achieving Digital Equity for California's Students." Appendices include: (1) Census Household Pulse Survey; and (2) Additional Figures. [For the full report, see ED617930. For the Policy Brief, see ED617933.]

As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, digital connectivity is critical to student learning. Gaps in digital access--including reliable access to internet and a digital device--are a driving force in the educational inequities evident during distance learning. In this report, the authors use data on a sample of California households with children…

How do we ensure that all students have the tools and resources they need to succeed in today's educational context? In this article, we explore how the right to education generally and to specific educational tools and resources in California have been protected through litigation in the past; how the COVID-19 pandemic revealed technology-based…

This report, commissioned by the Bay Area Geographic Leads Consortium, explores how five county offices of education and local school districts pivoted to reach, teach, and support the holistic needs of students experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report documents the rising number of students experiencing homelessness as…

Digital inclusion is key to a better and fairer economic future where every Californian can thrive. But social and physical distancing requirements necessitated by the pandemic have shined a spotlight on the dramatic digital divide facing California's workers, as well as the inequities of that divide. It's time for policies to change so that every…

Digital knowledge and skills are needed to fully participate in the society and economy of the United States. The historic $65 billion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act represents a significant federal investment in advancing digital equity and inclusion, and an opportunity to make lasting change in communities across the country. This report…

The resurgence of COVID-19 over the summer and the predicted fall increase in cases means that many districts will continue some form of distance learning for months to come. To help districts refine remote instruction, the authors explore key issues California families experienced around distance learning this spring. Using data from the Census…

School closures intended to slow the spread of the new coronavirus have been forcing California's public-school leaders to apply their crisis-management skills to the enormous task of delivering instruction to some 6.2 million students across the state who, for an indefinite period, must engage in some type of distance learning. Even under normal…