Study questions digital divide efforts

Two researchers at Duke University have published a draft study that raises questions about the academic value of giving students home computers and broadband Internet access.

Their study has led to a flurry of media coverage, with some reports trumpeting the study's findings as evidence that efforts to close the digital divide are counterproductive. But is that what their research really says? Jacob Vigdor and Helen Ladd of Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy examined the reading and math test scores of more than 500,000 North Carolina public school students in grades five through eight from 2000-05. It sought to determine if differential access to computer technology at home compounds the educational disparities among students from various socio-economic backgrounds, and whether government provision of computers to middle school students would reduce those disparities. The researchers found that students who had home computers for all five years of the period examined had better test scores overall than students who did not have home computers during this time. But the scores of students who reported getting a computer during this period showed a moderate decline in their first three years of home computer access. This effect was most pronounced for students who received free or reduced-price lunches and/or who were black.