Site Logo
  • Home
  • About Us
  • News
  • Our Services
Home News PPA Issue Brief Analyzes Digital Gap for Michigan Students

PPA Issue Brief Analyzes Digital Gap for Michigan Students

April 27, 2020

Unequal access to computers and the Internet present important challenges to school districts and policymakers seeking to address educational equity gaps in Michigan and across the United States. These challenges are exacerbated during the coronavirus pandemic, which forced schools to close months early, in March rather than June.

A new issue brief, Digital Inequities and Disparities: Technology Access for Michigan Students, examines the disparities in access between rural and urban students, White students and students of color, and those in low-income families and others.

Data from the American Community Survey show that about 418,000 Michigan students lack access to online instructional technology, which requires both a computer and high-speed Internet. Black and Hispanic students, children in poverty, and those living in many rural areas of Michigan, all are at a digital disadvantage. For example, only 76% of Black students have home access to computers, compared with 94% of White students. Only 59% of children in rural areas have access to broadband, compared with 79% in metropolitan areas.

In this brief, PPA recommends further study to look at key questions, including how districts are working to expand Internet access during the COVID-19 pandemic and how they are reaching out to students and families without access.

You can read the brief here. For more information or to learn about Public Policy Associates’ work in education, contact the authors of this brief, Nathan Burroughs, Ph.D., at nburroughs@publicpolicy.com or Daniel J. Quinn, Ph.D., at dquinn@publicpolicy.com.

Share: Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn
PPA Issue Brief on Child Care Subsidies Benchmarks Michigan Against Other States
Nimbleness in Times of Change

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
© Copyright 2023
Public Policy Associates
119 Pere Marquette Drive Suite 1C
Lansing, MI 48912-1231
Phone: 517-485-4477