Capitalizing on the Moment: States Collaborate with Education Leaders on Digital Equity Plans

As of February 2023, all states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have received their digital equity planning grants from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). At the Office of Educational Technology (OET), our priority is to support states as they include the voices, needs, and assets of the education community in their digital equity plans. Therefore, in 2022, OET launched the Digital Equity Education Roundtables Initiative and published Advancing Digital Equity for All, which identifies barriers faced by learners in adopting reliable, high-speed internet, promising strategies for navigating these barriers, and examples of solutions in practice. Here’s how a few states are collaborating with education leaders as co-designers of digital equity plans:

• Arizona: The Digital Equity Institute is collaborating with the Arizona Education Department to develop, streamline, and analyze statewide survey instruments to identify the pressing needs of school communities. The Institute is also leveraging its relationships with groups that represent various populations within the state. 
• California: The California Department of Education is partnering with the state’s Department of Technology to conduct online and phone surveys and will engage in a statewide listening tour this spring, through which school communities can provide input on the state’s digital equity plan.
• Connecticut: The Connecticut Commission for Educational Technology will expand on its role as the state’s connectivity and digital literacy lead by developing the digital equity plan alongside representatives from the K-12, higher education, adult learning, and library sectors.
• Georgia: The Georgia Technology Authority invited the Georgia Department of Education to its Digital Connectivity Advisory Committee to help develop sustainable strategies. It will also ensure its stakeholder inventory includes organizations and institutions representing different learner demographics.
• Hawaii: The state’s broadband office has long led a statewide “Hui,” regularly convening members of different sectors, including school leaders, to build awareness around current digital equity efforts.
• Idaho: The Idaho Commission for Libraries is leveraging its cross-sector relationships and unique perspective on adoption issues. The Commission will conduct household surveys in multiple languages and will engage in regular meetings with district technology coordinators and groups like the Idaho School Board Association.
• Louisiana: The Louisiana Board of Regents, overseeing the state’s higher education institutions, has been a critical partner in ongoing digital equity planning efforts. 
• Michigan:  The Michigan High-Speed Internet (MIHI) Office launched its MI Connected Future listening tour to collect qualitative and quantitative data on barriers impeding access.
• New York: The State Librarian’s office within the New York State Education Department has led various recent digital equity efforts, including a series of vision-setting summits and federally funded supports for library systems.

State broadband offices can use these examples to craft meaningful partnerships with education leaders — and vice versa — and develop a foundation for digital equity plans that will most equitably meet the needs of all learners, especially those furthest from opportunities.