This report is the third in a series about the digital divide for students and teachers. It aims to provide a more granular understanding of the digital divide for students amid distance learning and the pandemic and offers a set of policy recommendations at the federal, state, and local levels to permanently close the digital divide.

This report provides key findings regarding America's K-12 "homework gap." The analysis of new data illustrates how the digital divide affects every state and every type of community, but the divide is more pronounced in rural communities and for Latinx, Black, and Native American households. The report offers an estimate between $6 billion to $11 billion to adequately address and close the digital divide for K-12 public school students in one year.

This report highlights case studies at the state, city, and school district level to provide steps to address and close the digital divide. The three key steps are to assess who needs connectivity and devices and where they live, determine which devices and connectivity options are desirable and available, and find the money to pay for it all. The report details how the best solutions relied on high-level communications and collaboration among all stakeholders.

This data display depicts how the digital divide for students is a major problem across all 50 states. Students in rural geographies have the highest rate of inadequate connectivity; Latinx, Black, and Native American students also have the high rates of inadequate connectivity.

This policy brief argues that the economy is stronger and educational opportunities are greater, thanks in part to high-speed Internet access. It discusses the benefits that greater broadband penetration can have on the economic, education, and health. A recommendation to broaden access to broadband is to reform the FCC's Lifeline program to include broadband and make the program more efficient and accountable.

This resource from October 2021 outlines Philadelphia’s digital divide, connectivity in the city, programs to promote broadband that have made an impact, the role played by schools, economic disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the reasons for adoption gaps among Philadelphians.

This resource from Chiefs for Change provides an overview of methods schools and wireless providers have used to provide connectivity to students during Covid-19, including providing wireless hotspots, creating partnerships with local service providers, and using CARES Act funding to support educational connectivity.

This resource from the Brookings Institution addresses the broadband accessibility problem faced in rural America and how it was aggravated by the Trump FCC's mismanagement of efforts to connect unserved Americans. The outdated definition of "broadband" was not updated by the Trump FCC, which led to incorrect mapping and data collection.

This resource explains the four primary pieces of broadband policy in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and how they can help move America toward its long-held goals of universal broadband access and adoption. Firstly, the largest part of the IIJA's $65 billion is a $42.5 billion appropriation to fund network deployment. Second, the IIJA includes a subsidy for low-income Americans to connect to broadband. Third, the Senate orders the FCC to come up with a plan to reform universal service. Finally, the fourth component provides a surge of funding to address digital training and literacy.

This part of a multi-section series from the Brookings Institution on the American Rescue Plan (ARP) argues that the ARP can address immediate broadband needs while laying the foundation for more durable digital equity and that closing the digital divide begins with this kind of investment, as the digital divide won't go away on its own.

This article analyzes the potential of of capital and legislative support to bolster open-access networks (OANs). Though the fiber rollout has accelerated, fiber adoption is still low in the U.S. compared with other countries. This resource discusses how OANs have the potential to significantly disrupt the telecom ecosystem in the U.S. and positions them as the solution for under-penetration of fiber across the country.

This resource explores the challenges service providers face as more households transition to fiber, primarily the shortage of skilled workers like network planners and network ops technicians, and argues the communications industry faces a major shortage of manpower. It offers the solution of cloud-based subscriber insight and management tools to simplify and automate the fiber activation process.

This resource describes the transition high-speed internet access from a luxury to a necessity. The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the true depth of the digital divide, but new funding has also delivered advances in telehealth availability and equitable remote learning. The resource discusses pandemic-drive programs that emerged in response to Covid-19, such as the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, as well as the benefits of leveraging this momentum for long-term progress in broadband accessibility.

This resource examines the impact of the FCC's Connect America Fund (CAF II) in its goal of closing the financial gap and improve broadband services. The report explores whether the program is helping to close the rural-urban digital divide and whether CAF II funding is adequate to encourage providers to deploy networks in less densely populated areas.

A paper designed for city officials seeking affordable, abundant bandwidth in their communities. It reviews the current landscape of broadband networks, outlines best practices, summarizes existing models, and presents a framework through which community leaders can begin developing projects given the city's specific circumstances.