Broadband and Student Performance Gaps

This study was designed to understand the repercussions of absent or poor home Internet connectivity on student performance and the associated costs to society. The focus is on Internet connectivity outside of school among middle and high school students enrolled in rural and smalltown schools. This report examines how differences in the type and quality of home connectivity (eg, broadband vs. cell phone) relate to school performance and other student outcomes in grades 8-11, in fifteen predominantly rural, Michigan, school districts. Inequalities related to income and race are often used to explain why some people still do not have Internet or broadband access at home. Often overlooked in this discussion is the role of geography. The role of location is not well understood because of difficulties in finding and studying contexts where Internet access is unavailable. In this study, many students do not have Internet access because they live in small towns, rural areas, or on farms that do not have an infrastructure to provide broadband Internet access or any Internet or cell phone service. If Internet access is available, it is often slow, and cell phone data access can be spotty and congested. Although poverty is also prevalent in these areas, many students live in households that would purchase high-speed home Internet access if it were available.