What We Don't Know About Teachers' Home Internet Access

When schools across the country were forced to shutter abruptly last month, headlines plastered the news with urgent questions about remote teaching and learning in times of crisis. But what remains largely absent from media coverage, nationwide analyses, and research is home connectivity among teachers. Do all p+PreK-12 teachers have Internet access at home? Do they all have high-speed broadband that allows them to stream video and run Zoom classrooms, keeping up with the demands of schools and districts? And, what about those who don’t? Perhaps unsurprisingly, there are no large scale data on teachers’ home connectivity specifically, but there are separate sources of evidence that show how and why it would be a mistake to assume all teachers can easily get online at home. While connecting online is perhaps not the extent of support that teachers need right now, initiatives like these from both providers and specific district leaders are, at the very least, an important recognition of the gap between what we’re still requiring of teachers and the support they need to meet those demands.