Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Panel: Statistics in the Age of Ed Tech: Seeking a Deeper Understanding of America’s Digital Divide

(Education)

The National Center for Education Statistics, or NCES, is the Department of Education’s primary statistical agency. Since 1867, NCES has collected data and conducted research to inform policymakers and education stakeholders. As technology plays an increasing role in classrooms, NCES is working to adjust its methods to ensure its education technology data is current, reflects contemporary conditions, and is comprehensive.

This panel features experts from NCES and will focus on recent research conducted by NCES related to the relationship technology has with education, America’s “digital divide”, and how the Center plans to expand its research and data collection efforts in this burgeoning field.

Currently, tech-related research in policy centers and government agencies focuses on technology access and paints a picture of the “digital divide” in communities and school districts across the country—yet much of this scholarship focuses on household internet access at a macro level. To help gain a more complete understanding of the digital divide, NCES has surveyed educators to find out whether they take into consideration their students’ tech access capabilities when making decisions about the type of homework or the amount of homework they assign to students. The survey process NCES used—conducted through an expedited survey system—allows the agency to remain dynamic and to gain insight on relevant research areas at a time when the data of interest remains variable.

NCES’s research suggests that internet access is just one piece of a complex puzzle of variables that describe technology access for students. Students in communities with high rates of internet access might still have trouble completing assignments outside of the classroom, based on their access to different technologies outside of school. Increases in access to handheld devices, such as smartphones, may help to decrease internet access gaps, but may also limit students’ abilities to complete assignments outside of school.

While examining access levels is a key part of education technology research, NCES is working to go beyond the limits of access-focused research to collect more comprehensive data that describe all aspects of education technology in and out of school, including professional development, funding levels, and the implementation of technologies in student curricula. NCES has launched an initiative to improve its education technology and equity data, working with various stakeholders and education officials to determine how its research can remain relevant in a field as dynamic and fluid as education technology. Topics for this panel include:

• Digital Divide for Homework: Teachers Tell Us How Out-of-School Internet Access Affects Class Assignments;
• Accessing Digital Resources at Home: Has the Digital Divide Closed?; and
• Technology and K-12 Education: The NCES Ed Tech Equity Initiative.

Insights gained from research on each of these topics, as well as examples of data collection tools will be shared with panel attendees. The panel will also serve as a dialogue to inform NCES’ ongoing efforts to collect meaningful data on technology equity as it relates to education.