Real Progress for Student Access
Dispatch from NCTET 2022 in Washington, DC
Never thought I would be thrilled to be sitting on the southbound Amtrak Northeast Regional 183 but there I was last week, headed for my first trip to Washington, DC since COVID. Besides being back to whatever normal is in the nation’s capital (check out how empty Union station was above), I was struck by the tone and substance of conversations over my two days attending events hosted by NCTET—the National Coalition for Technology in Education & Training. Covering edtech programs that involve government funding usually means well-intentioned promises to combat long-debated issues, often using vague overlapping phrases—closing the digital divide, addressing digital equity, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), etc. This time there was something extra—real stories of solutions backed up by real dollars spent and actual data to support that success.
The first example occurred at the NCTET Policy Roundtable at the new Planet Word museum, where Jessica Rosenworcel, Chairwoman of the FCC, discussed the work in addressing her own original phrase “The Homework Gap” through the $7.17 billion (with a B) Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF).
The initiative covers the costs of laptop and tablet computers; Wi-Fi hotspots; modems; routers; and broadband connectivity purchases for off-campus use by students, school staff, and library patrons. She described in emotional detail her experience of seeing families huddling in parking lots and downloading classwork from free access points and made promises to keep eradicating that ridiculousness with new strategies like Wi-Fi on school buses. She has since backed up those promises. Just yesterday, the agency announced that the 15th wave of ECF funds, valued at more than $50 million, will go to support 46 schools, 7 libraries, and 2 consortia across the country, including for students in American Samoa, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Ohio, and the US Virgin Islands. Our tax dollars at work!
Next, I had the pleasure to moderate a panel of innovative educators and administrators that included Gregory C. Hutchings, Superintendent of Alexandria Public Schools (VA), Cindy Sholtys-Cromwell, 2021 NASSP Digital Principal of the Year at Kelso Virtual Academy (WA), and Kristina Ishmael, Deputy Director of the Office of Education Technology for the Department of Education. Again, instead of a theme with the hand-wringing question, “What should we do?” the panelists took the tone of, “What we have done.”
Dr. Hutchings described making his district 100 percent one-to-one in the first weeks of the pandemic. Ms. Sholtys-Cromwell detailed how they scaled what was a supplemental online program for dozens of students BP (Before Pandemic) into an essential hybrid-learning infrastructure for hundreds. Ms. Ishmael reinforced how these strategies are being replicated around the country. Admittedly, it was a little tough for me to take notes! But the panel was recorded and I will hopefully be able to point you to a stream when it becomes available.
The next evening I swung between delusions of James Bond and House of Cards at The NCTET Ball, which this year was held at the International Spy Museum. It is a frankly swanky affair where 400 of the nation’s technology and education leaders gather to honor individuals that have made significant contributions to the education technology field.
This year, Senator Edward Markey (MA) and U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens), among others, were recognized for their efforts. In May 2020, they, along with Senator Van Hollen (MD), introduced the Emergency Educational Connections Act, legislation aimed at ensuring all K-12 students have adequate home internet connectivity and devices. In March 2021, this bill became law, enabling the ECF monies for home connectivity as part of the American Rescue Plan.
This isn’t Senator Markey’s first rodeo when it comes to making promises of edtech into reality. He is the author of the original E-Rate program, which was created as a part of the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The program has been enacted for over two decades, an essential source of funding to connect the nation’s schools and libraries to the internet. Since the E-Rate began nearly two decades ago, more than $52 billion has been committed nationwide to provide internet access for schools and libraries.
Let’s be clear: This Homework Gap issue is far from solved. There are still millions of students unable to adequately work, access resources, and communicate with educators from home. However, these efforts during the pandemic have proven that progress can be more than just talk. And actions become infectious. Below are just some other examples of success stories from the past few weeks. Maybe those 12.6 Million Students will get connected after all.
Dos Palos-Oro Loma School District Bridges Homework Gap
Philadelphia Extends PHLConnectED, Digital Skill-Building
Humboldt County schools gets $1.58M to close the ‘homework gap’
In between NCTET events, I was able to finagle my way into an exclusive book signing and reading for the recently released InnovateHERs: Why Purpose-Driven Entrepreneurial Women Rise to the Top, authored by education industry veterans Dr. Barbara “Bobbi” Kurshan and Kathy Hurley.
Bobbi is the President of Educorp Consultants Corporation and Senior Innovation Advisor, Graduate School of Education, Education Entrepreneurship, University of Pennsylvania, and a former education industry entrepreneur. Kathy is a former senior executive for numerous educational publishing and technology companies, including IBM and Pearson. After retiring from Pearson, she was selected as a Fellow of the Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI) at Harvard University and co-founded a global nonprofit organization, Girls Thinking Global (girlsthinkingglobal.org).
I’m about halfway through and find the stories both informative and inspirational, even as a HIM. Hoping to have the authors in conversation on a Hogan Report podcast in the next few weeks. Stay tuned!
Great write up, Kevin! You captured everything with terrific photos. It was a great week. And glad you "finagled" yourself into the InnovateHERs signing :)