Computer use linked to student success

Report: Race, geography play role in digital access

Access to home computers and the internet is growing, but a significant segment of the student population has yet to catch up, according to a new national report out Wednesday.

Some 94 percent of children ages 3 to 18 had a computer or smartphone at home and 61 percent had internet access at home in 2015.

In Connecticut, 88 percent of all households had computers, and 82 percent had internet access.

Nationally, the percentages were higher for children who were older, whose parents went to college, and whose families had higher incomes.

Race and geographic location play a factor. Black and Hispanic students have lower rates of home internet access than students who were white, Asian and of two or more races, according to the report.

Students living in southern states tended to have home internet access below the national average, while northern states — Connecticut included — had rates higher than the national average.

“The role that technology plays in education is an evolving area of research that continues to grow in importance,” said Tom Snyder, director of Annual Reports and

Information for the National Center for Education Statistics.

The center took on the role that technology plays in education for the first time in response to the Every Student Succeeds Act. The aim is to provide as comprehensive picture as possible of student access to digital learning resources outside the classroom.

Drawing largely on existing data, the report, “Student Access to Digital Learning Resources Outside of the Classroom,” found a consistent pattern of higher performance scores in reading, math and science for students with home computer and internet access, though it did not seek to draw a direct correlation.

Still, students without home internet access had lower assessment scores in reading, mathematics, and science across a range of national and international assessments.

Meanwhile reading, math and science scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress were higher for eighth-grade students who used a computer at home than for those who did not.

The whys

For some children, the lack of a computer at home was attributed to a lack of interest or family concerns about online privacy, according to the report.

The most common barriers, however, were cost and availability.

In Connecticut, many superintendents said they are starting to explore the issue.

“We are actually doing a survey in the fall to assess as we prepare to expand our access for all children,” Fairfield Schools Superintendent Toni Jones, said.

Especially as more homework is done online and more textbooks become digitalized.

In 2015, only 20 percent of eighth-grade public school students in the U.S. reported not using a computer for schoolwork.