Dive Brief:
- Next month, the Federal Communications Commission will consider repurposing a $2 billion phone subsidy program, Lifeline, so that it could include subsidies for broadband services in low-income homes.
- According to the New York Times, a reported 5 million families have no Internet at home, which negatively affects student performance in K-12 schools.
- The FCC's Jessica Rosenworcel is advocating for Lifeline, saying that the program is necessary, in part, because 7 out of 10 teachers now assign homework to their students that requires a Web connection for completion.
Dive Insight:
Averting the 'homework gap' is critical to ensuring equity, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel previously told Education Dive. That's partially why the FCC's E-rate program funding has increased from $1.5 billion to $3.9 billion.
"The FCC’s own data suggests that one in three households lacks Internet access," Rosenworcel said last year. "If you think about where those numbers overlap and then think about the students who might live in some of those homes, you have a community of students who are having a hard time getting their homework done without connectivity at home."
Some critics have said U.S. teachers adopted flipped learning too soon, since some students are unable to work at home without Internet access. That kind of exclusion serves to widen not just the homework gap, but the achievement gap between middle- and upper-class students and their low-income peers.
Yet California middle school teacher Jess Peterson says that flipped learning can help close the tech equity gap if executed correctly. That requires parent and district buy-in, Peterson says, and a number of workarounds that require more planning and creative thinking by educators. Congress is also considering legislation, the Digital Learning Equity Act of 2015, to target the homework gap.