Challenges for Rural School Districts

The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) convened two focus groups consisting of the CTO’s and Superintendents for rural districts to ask them what their challenges and opportunities were, with the top four challenges being:

1. Broadband access - For rural districts, access is the most pernicious obstacle to taking the digital leap. Even if a school has internet access, it may not be up to par since it’s not cost-effective for telecommunication providers to lay fiber to remote areas where some students live and many students live far apart from each other and the school.

2. Funding - Rural districts are often funded from a smaller tax base and, because of their smaller size, have a larger percentage of per student spending go to overhead costs such as transportation.

3. People - Rural districts have a difficult time recruiting staff, substitute teachers and support services personnel.

4. Understanding the “why” - Finally, some rural communities may be skeptical of the role of technology in their schools and their communities.

The study stated, however, that opportunities exist at the same time.  Rural districts have unique opportunities due to their smaller size.  They are often nimbler and leadership has more ownership of the schools. Rural districts often have community involvement. Teacher retention is strong – often teachers in the town were once students at those same schools.

CoSN (2018). The challenges and opportunities of rural districts in taking the digital leap. Washington, D.C.: CoSN. http://cosn.org/sites/default/files/Challenges%20and%20Opportunities%20of%20Rural%20Districts%20Taking%20Digital%20Leap.pdf

Increasing Students’ AP Participation

According to a report by The Education Trust, it turns out that more than half a million low-income students and students of color are “missing” from AP and IB participation — students who would benefit from these advanced opportunities if they participated at the same rate as other students. This paper examines AP participation patterns nationally and then by school to estimate how many students are missing out. We also look at data for the much smaller IB program. It turns out that, each year, more than half a million low-income students and students of color are “missing” from AP and IB participation — students who would benefit from these advanced opportunities if they participated at the same rate as other students. We also attempt to understand why inequities in participation exist, by asking whether the problem is mostly inadequate AP course offerings in high-poverty or high-minority schools, or because low-income students and students of color are not enrolling in existing programs. The researchers state that the bottom line is clear – we need to continue to expand advanced offerings like AP and IB to schools that don’t yet have them. There’s a lot we can do to bolster participation in existing programs. The study states that we could almost entirely eliminate the national access gap by doing, at scale, what some individual high schools already have done: close race and income access gaps within schools.

The Education Trust, & Equal Opportunity Schools (2013). Finding America’s missing AP and IB students. Washington, D.C.: The Education Trust. https://edtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Missing_Students.pdf

Digital Technologies Around the World

This study discusses how digital technologies have spread rapidly in much of the world. Digital dividends—that is, the broader development benefits from using these technologies—have lagged behind. In many instances, digital technologies have boosted growth, expanded opportunities, and improved service delivery. Yet their aggregate impact has fallen short and is unevenly distributed. The study states that for digital technologies to benefit everyone everywhere it requires closing the remaining digital divide, especially in internet access. But greater digital adoption will not be enough. To get the most out of the digital revolution, countries also need to work on the “analog complements”—by strengthening regulations that ensure competition among businesses, by adapting workers’ skills to the demands of the new economy, and by ensuring that institutions are accountable.

World Bank Group (2016). World development report 2016: Digital dividends. Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group.

https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/23347/9781464806711.pdf