April 2007

Compared to their peers in households with annual
incomes over $75,000, children in households with
annual incomes less than $15,000 are:

• 1/2 as likely to have a computer at home;
• 1/3 as likely to have the Internet at home; and
• 1/7 as likely to have broadband at home.

Wendy Lazarus and Andrew Wainer with Laurie Lipper,Measuring Digital Opportunity for America’s Children: Where We Stand and Where We Go From Here (Santa Monica, CA: The Children’s Partnership, June 2005): 26 (http://www.contentbank.org/DOMS). Data from U.S. Bureau of Census, Current Population Survey, Internet and Computer Use, Oct. 2003.

In 1998, Boston Public Schools put high-speed technology networks in their schools and libraries and partnered with the Boston Digital Bridge Foundation to provide students technology access, training, content, and curriculum. The program evaluation showed:

• 95% of participants made significant improvements
  in their computer skills; and
• 80% of graduates went on to college versus the
  district average of 65%.

Andrew Wainer with Wendy Lazarus, Impacts of Technology on Outcomes for Youth: A 2005 Review (Santa Monica, CA: The Children’s Partnership, June 2005).