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Rural areas have been slow to connect to broadband. More public funding could speed things up

The Hechinger Report

But there is one essential that has always been scarce in this part of the country and that she couldn’t stock up on: Broadband access. Perry’s home isn’t wired for broadband access. The school district, where Perry works as an education assistant, gave the family a hot spot in August 2020, but it didn’t function well.

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The Pandemic Closed Our Doors But Opened Our Minds: Why My School District Will Not Return to ‘Normal’

Edsurge

A health crisis running headlong into an education crisis: Welcome to the 2020-2021 school year. Thirty additional school days have been added to the elementary school calendar to provide more effective time with our youngest learners. This op-ed is part of a series of year-end reflections EdSurge is publishing as 2020 concludes.

Broadband 186
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What Is the True Cost of a 1:1 Device Program? One State’s Careful Rollout Offers a Look

Edsurge

The pandemic-era jump for elementary school students was even larger: from under half to 84 percent. Accounting for True Costs of Device Purchase When schools shut down in March 2020, leaders at the MDE began to take stock of the needs of students, teachers and school and district administrators and staff throughout the state.

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New research finds widening educational inequity in year of COVID

eSchool News

public school students in grades 3-8 between fall 2020 and spring 2021 and found: On average, students across most grades and subject areas made learning gains in 2020-21, but at a lower rate compared to pre-pandemic trends. 2020-21 outcomes were lower relative to historic trends. million U.S.

Broadband 101
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Digital divide: Gap is narrowing, but how will schools maintain progress?

The Hechinger Report

As teachers develop lesson plans, they also face lingering questions, in Maine and nationally, over the possibility of a return to remote learning and concerns about ensuring all students have access to the devices and high-quality broadband they need to do classwork and homework. 18, 2021, in Brunswick, Maine.

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Educators Share What’s Working in Distance Learning

MIND Research Institute

There is nothing black-and-white about how to best support our students and families,” said Dr. Barbara Adams, principal at Findley Elementary School in Des Moines, IA. Adams told MIND that Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS) began with a district-wide survey to determine each family’s need for computers or a wired home broadband connection.

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How one city closed the digital divide for nearly all its students

The Hechinger Report

After schools went remote in 2020, Jessica Ramos spent hours that spring and summer sitting on a bench in front of her local Oakland Public Library branch in the vibrant and diverse Dimond District. Oakland’s partnership, known as #OaklandUndivided , launched in May 2020. OAKLAND, Calif. The homework gap isn’t new.