Guest Blog post by Jeremiah Okal-Frink, PhD, Senior Education Strategist – Dell Technologies
We have all witnessed the pressure that had been building within our education system to transform the way we prepare students for a drastically different future erupt over the past few years. What was once merely digital opportunities for students have shifted to digital essentials that are prerequisites for their future in an increasingly sophisticated world.
As Julia Fallon in her post about Digital Equity already articulated, the need to address this gap was known and being addressed prior to March 2020. However, it was the rapid increase in digitally-enabled teaching and learning that centered the conversation that has been an ongoing struggle for district, regional and state leaders for years: How do we ensure that all students have access to the learning resources and experiences they need as these become more digital?
This is the conversation that precipitated the joint project between Dell Technologies and SETDA focused on Digital Equity data. Beginning in December 2020, Dell and SETDA began a project that culminated with a recently released report that involved four phases to advance our collective understanding of student access. We know that there are inequities throughout the system and we saw the need to better understand the specifics to address inequity at a national scale.
Phase 1: Identify what data is available If one does a quick internet search, you will find statistics that suggest we have comprehensive data about student connectivity. When digging deeper into these reports, there are many questions left unanswered with a mix of different and sometimes conflicting information.
The project launched with focus groups, conversations with State leaders and other national organizations, through which we confirmed there is a lack of consistent data elements, collection processes and access to data needed for decision-making.
We recognized the importance of developing a better understanding of what data was even available for state leaders.
Phase 2: Survey of current and planned data capture Following those initial conversations, SETDA connected with other projects already in motion. The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) had already released recommended data elements to begin this needed standardization. Working with this standard, the SETDA and Dell project team worked with a subgroup of SETDA membership to develop a survey that was distributed to the SETDA membership. The survey focused on three areas of inquiry to better understand what data was available to state leadership:
Data collection: What data have you collected and do you plan to collect?
Standardization: Are you aligning your collection to the CCSSO recommendations? What are the reasons if not?
Concerns and recommendations: What barriers and concerns are in the way of data collection? What is needed to have more meaningful data?
Phase 3: Results analyze survey data and identify recommendations As often happens with this type of data collection, it was not the what of the data, but what was revealed in terms of the why that is most compelling for making change. We already knew that the equitable access data collection is varied in both process and type across states. What was helpful was the identification of why there is such variation.
Data CollectionFindings: Hampered by legislative, regulatory or capacity restrictions 25% of the responding states are not able to even begin a plan for collection.
Standardization: Adopting standards such as the CCSSO data elements face two challenges; some states are seeking longitudinal data including pre-pandemic surveys preventing them from switching data collection methods and others are seeking more detailed data fields not included with the CCSSO recommendations.
Phase 4: Advocate for change When looking at surveys, data and reports we can lose sight of what this represents: Students who can not access the learning resources they need to be successful. We, as leaders, must develop a plan to eliminate inequity of access. This report revealed our current understanding of the full scope of the problem. Across those who participated and reviewed the survey there were some identified ways we can be advocates for change:
Setting the standard of measurement allows us to track if we are improving and helping create a country where there is opportunity for all
Develop awareness and advocacy resources to inform those leaders who can remove current barriers.
Review and update the standardization of the data elements and processes for collection.
Identify data integration models that use multiple data sets for addressing the root problems.
Be public with your data sets to inform and gain greater buy-in from the larger community to spur change.
Develop a long-term plan for a national process and reporting.
In some ways, what came out of the process is not a surprise for those who have worked in education. However, just as the pandemic placed a spotlight on the issue of Digital Equity, this report helps to spotlight areas that need to be addressed if we are to succeed in both responsibly leveraging the current federal funding and developing sustainable change of the system. It is the hope and expectation that as organizations join together with partners like SETDA, together we can provide relevant and meaningful learning opportunities to ALL students.
OET Roundtable Blog
Convened by SETDA, CoSN, & Digital Promise
By Julia Fallon, Executive Director, SETDA
Equity of Access
As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us, reliable, robust broadband access both at school and away from campus is required to equitably engage all learners no matter where they live and learn. As it has become in so many facets of our society from banking to healthcare, access to the internet is now a necessity for learning. We must begin to treat access to the internet as a utility, rather than a luxury.
SETDA has long set the standard for school broadband access, and now is engaged in conversations about ensuring quality connections for all students, regardless of location, beyond school walls. Capitalizing on the momentum in this area (more than many of us have seen in our careers), we were eager to engage in a roundtable discussion about the challenges and possibilities with our colleagues from CoSN and Digital Promise. Everyone agreed with the mindset that connectivity is now a utility and that it impacts the very quality of life for students and their families, but what would it take to connect everyone? The issues are many, and varied.
Because of the diversity of our nation’s geography and the unique situations facing our nation’s families, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Bringing connectivity to every student will take a multi-faceted approach.
Many states and districts made great strides to connect families during the pandemic. However, it is clear that some of the measures of the past year have been temporary fixes, rather than enduring solutions. For example, participants felt that public access (e.g. libraries and business hotspots) was not a sufficient solution. Instead, connectivity needs to be provided directly to households in such a way that it supports the needs of families with multiple students who may need to stream several videos simultaneously.
Given the complexity and variety of barriers to connectivity, it would be beneficial to separate the problem into its component issues and stakeholder groups that each of these particularly impact. Rather than focusing on all of the barriers simultaneously, perhaps progress can be made in smaller areas by addressing more specific needs.
Geography: Barriers to broadband access differ between rural and urban areas. In rural America, the barrier is often a lack of access to a broadband grid, but for those in cities, it is more often affordability that primarily limits connectivity.
Speed:Connectivity needs to be provided to the household, and in amounts that allow families with multiple students to stream video simultaneously. Home connectivity is also essential for all educators. When the connectivity speeds of the staff are inadequate, they are reluctant to connect with the students, or they limit their time for connections.
Community outreach and engagement: Another of the lessons learned during these endeavors was that even free broadband offers may struggle to bring every family online. Issues working against adoption include distrust, language barriers, and aversion to Internet Service Providers. For these reasons, literacy and home outreach are critical components of getting kids online.
Professional Learning: The group emphasized that equity of access isn’t just about the availability of broadband. Equity also means providing professional learning opportunities for teachers working in new digital environments. Educators need support to be able to build lessons and provide instruction that takes advantage of fully connected learners.
Privacy, safety, and security: Parents also need support as they come to terms with privacy and cybersecurity issues that come with their children bringing connected devices, especially when they are at-home and streaming video. Districts have been scaling up parent support desks that offer multiple languages to ensure that learning time isn’t lost to technology issues.
Data and metrics: Data collection must shift in virtual environments and school systems are looking at alternative metrics to make sure that we have better ways to measure engagement, and the impact of district investments in technology. Many districts are tracking the amount of time students are spending on learning platforms, and using this data to follow up with students they see falling behind. Some have seen a very mobile group of students, even during the lockdown—connecting multiple devices from multiple locations, sometimes multiple states.
Broadband Mapping: It is also clear that we need much more visibility into access. States and districts have been launching massive data collections to understand what kinds of devices students have access to, whom they share them with, and what kind of connectivity they have. However, many students, families, and teachers do not have the broadband literacy to understand the access they have or consume. Thus, self-reported data is insufficient to get a clear picture of connectivity. The group voiced support for federal legislation to do universal broadband mapping, down to the household level, to get a definitive picture of where there is availability and where there is not. Gaining this accurate understanding of the digital access divide, is the first critical step to closing it for good
By targeting efforts toward solutions to the barriers and specific needs that we have identified here, we hope to collectively rise to the need that has been so clearly demonstrated throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Participants:
Rajesh Adusumilli, Assistant Superintendent, Information Services, Arlington Public Schools (VA)
Doug Casey, Executive Director, Connecticut Commission for Educational Technology (CT)
Baron Davis, Superintendent, Richland School District Two (SC)
Jaraun Dennis, CTO/Director of Facilities, Uinta County School District #1 (WY)
Patrick Gittisriboongul, Asst. Superintendent, Innovation & Tech, Lynwood Unified School District (CA)
Matthew Hiefield, TOSA, Digital Equity Facilitator, Digital Curriculum, Beaverton SD (OR)
Christina Iremonger, Chief Digital Officer, Vancouver School District #37 (WA)
Julia Legg, Coordinator, Office of Data Analysis & Research, West Virginia Department of Education (WV)
Chris Rush, Sr. Advisor for Innovation & Educational Technology , U.S. Department of Education
Tom Ryan, Chief Information & Strategy Officer, Santa Fe Public Schools (NM)
Andrew Wallace, Director of Technology, South Portland, Maine Schools (ME)
This blog reflects the summary by the author and may not represent official positions of the organizations.
Read blogs on other roundtables hosted by SETDA, CoSN, and Digital Promise:
The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) created the State Achievement Award (SSA) to recognize outstanding initiatives from SETDA State and Affiliate members and their teams that address meaningful challenges in teaching and learning.
The 2021 SSA awards, which were presented during the SETDA Emerging Trends Forum on June 15, 2021, celebrate the impact of these programs and projects, offering frameworks for other leaders to effect positive change in their states.
The SETDA State Achievement Awards have five categories that align with SETDA’s priorities of Equity of Access, Digital Content, Interoperability, Professional Learning, and Digital Learning. Learn more about the state teams and their projects:
Category: Digital Content Recipient: Arkansas Project: Impact with MyVRSpot
Before COVID made digital learning a necessity, Arkansas learned about MyVRSpot at a SETDA sponsored event. MyVRSpot offered a unique and safe solution for hosting and sharing a video that was compatible with the Arkansas broadband initiative.
Over the years, MyVRSpot has continued to grow and develop its product alongside Arkansas. As a result, MyVRSpot today easily compares and combines features found in products such as Screencastify, FlipGrid, WeVideo, and EdPuzzle, and can provide far more features, often for far less money.
MyVRSpot’s affordable solution allows the state of Arkansas to provide this service to 100% of schools and districts. For many low economic and rural communities, this type of service would be unaffordable or unforeseen pre-pandemic. When COVID shut down in-person learning, Arkansas was ready to scale and support.
Category: Digital Learning Recipient: Arkansas Project: Stepping Up & In with Virtual Arkansas
In 2013 and 2014, Arkansas decided to start Virtual Arkansas, a State Virtual School, to provide supplemental online courses and services throughout the state to provide equity in educational access and opportunity for students in Arkansas who would otherwise not have those opportunities, particularly rural schools and schools that have high free and reduced lunch populations.
For example, rural and high-poverty schools tend to lack access to highly qualified teachers, offer fewer advanced courses such as Advanced Placement and Concurrent Credit courses, and lack various Career and Technical Education courses and other electives. Currently, 97% of rural schools in Arkansas utilize the online courses, teachers, and services of this program, and 62% of the approximately 38,000 Virtual Arkansas enrollments come from our rural schools. To put these statistics in perspective, 30% of Arkansas students are enrolled in rural schools. In other words, 62% of the Virtual Arkansas enrollments come from 30% of the student population. It just happens to be one of the student populations who need this access to educational opportunity the most.
The Virtual Arkansas program provides statewide access to online courses with dedicated online teachers. In addition, it offers local teachers access to affordable and high-quality digital content designed and developed specifically to meet Arkansas curriculum standards.
Category: Equity of Access Recipient: New Hampshire Project: Operation Lemonade
In the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic, when districts were challenged to go remote quickly, New Hampshire’s largest and most diverse district, Manchester, was challenged to get devices in the hands of students and teachers throughout the district. The District was faced with the issue of not having enough devices and not having the time to wait for the relief CARES Act funding to give remote access to all students.
The National Collaborative for Digital Equity (NCDE), a leader in the movement to provide digital equity both at school and at home, stepped in to develop Operation Lemonade, hoping to turn the lemons brought by the pandemic into lemonade for a struggling school district.
Operation Lemonade was able to purchase devices and free broadband access to 500 low-income students throughout the Manchester School District, giving them access to remote learning during the height of the pandemic.
Category: Professional Learning Recipient: Illinois Project: Professional Learning Statewide System of Support
Over the past nine months, LTC staff has facilitated 718 professional learning events for over 22,000 teachers, administrators, and technology leaders. Events include in-person and online networking meetings, regional and state workshops, webinars, online courses, in-district events, micro-credentials, administrator academies, and conferences.
Through this program, the LTC has five regional coordinators and ten statewide content experts that provide professional learning on various topics, including remote education, digital learning, technology integration, leadership, etc. The team of state and national edtech leaders craft high-impact learning opportunities that address short and long-term needs and advocate for effective instructional, assessment, and curricular practices.
All of the State Achievement Award projects this year share one thing in common: in a time of crisis, these leaders were able to shift to new ways of teaching, connecting, and collaborating. Whether it was finding a solution to issues of student equity and connectivity, utilizing emerging technologies and interactive content to engage student learning, or providing professional development for educators to adapt to online learning, SETDA members showed courage and fortitude under the most difficult of circumstances to find innovative ways to educate our nation’s students.
Educators recognize the importance of digital citizenship, the ethical and responsible use of technology. But how can we effectively teach it? How can we go beyond basic understanding to actual practice? How can we actually change digital behavior?
These are big questions, ones that educators, doctors, parents, politicians and many others ask.
People are complicated, and the reasons for our behavior are multi-faceted. We may behave one way because we’re tired, there’s bad weather, we watched a scary movie, we’re hungry or some random occurrence. As much as we like to believe that we are rational creatures who thoughtfully make decisions based on the evidence—we’re guided by many biological and situational factors.
Despite science understanding that humans are variable and multiple factors influencing our behavior—we act as if we are simple machines. We think that if we push the right lever we’ll get the same output every time. We use slogans, New Year’s resolutions, hashtags, memes, entertaining talks and other strategies to change other’s behavior. A teacher may think, “well we’ve gone over this in class” and consider the matter done.
I wish it was simple, that just by conveying knowledge about digital behavior would make that change. But, as much willpower as we think we have, all those forces—the weather, our bodies, media etc. influence our behaviors. It’s like pushing against a wave. You can make some incremental progress, but at any point the ocean may throw a big one your way and knock you way back.
So how do we change our behavior? How do we push through those waves? The answer is skills. If we know how to swim we can make more progress through the ocean. If we have other social emotional skills like self-regulation, self-efficacy, emotional awareness and critical thinking we can also stick to our goals through all other life’s influences.
From my and Digital Respons-Ability’s work with tens of thousands of students and parents we’ve honed down some top skills, those social emotional learning skills. We still have lots to learn, but this is what we’ve discovered.
Ability to transition- The internet throws a lot at us. If we cannot shift our focus and ignore distractions we can get thrown off by the tide.
Self-efficacy- Research that has found that people who have high self-efficacy are more likely to view hard tasks as something to be mastered, rather than avoided. Those individuals who possess self-efficacy do not self-blame.
Critical thinking- Students are deluged with information and the ability to evaluate all that media in an unbiased manner is crucial to be both media literate and a digital citizen.
Digital Empathy- When online we are continually interacting with strangers and don’t have the context of their life story, gestures, nonverbal cues and more to make decisions. Digital empathy assumes best intent as well as understanding that others online may respond and feel differently to the same media we consume.
Self-regulation- In my opinion this is the most important of the 5 SEL skills listed. The ability to monitor moods, stimuli and create healthy boundaries is essential to be a digital citizenship.
The internet is full of waves that can toss us side to side. But when we teach digital citizenship we just focus on the waves—the height of them (“here’s this internet danger!”) or the composition of them (“look at all these things online!”) rather than something that actually help (“here’s how to swim”). To change behavior, we have to develop the skills to change our behavior. Let’s work together to build skills, to build strength, and help students swim on their own.
Catch Carrie’s recent SETDA webinar titled “Maximizing 2021 ESSER Funding to Prioritize Social Emotional Learning and Digital Citizenship.”
This guest blog post was written by SETDA partner, Shannon Buerk, CEO, engage2learn, and focuses on the immediate and long-term high-value activities to address learning loss. We can turn the current challenges into an opportunity to accelerate learning using a proven 3-step process for closing achievement gaps and supporting educators with the right systems.
Every ed leader I talk to is beyond weary with the never-ending challenges of a shifting landscape in this highly-irregular, pandemic-driven ‘20-’21 school year. The Herculean and persistent efforts of educators everywhere are so impressive, yet, despite these efforts, the data from grades, mid-year assessments, etc., is showing there is unbelievable learning loss happening across the board.
Districts are reporting high failure rates and 30 to 75 percent learning loss, which is stacked on top of the losses from last spring where we saw the slide start, as the graph below indicates. RAND surveys, conducted by American Educator Panels (AEP) in October 2020, found “on average, teachers reported being able to contact only four out of every five students. Only 59% of teachers reported assigning letter grades during fall 2020.” The survey also stated that “principals in the highest-poverty schools reported that, on average, only 80% of their students had adequate internet access at home.” It’s clear the remote learning environment has exacerbated inequities in educational access and outcomes over the last several months as students without supervision have fallen farther behind. Furthermore, the long-term impact as a result of school closures could take years to recover from, according to a study conducted by The Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University. To make up for what looks to be 18 months of limited or outright lost learning time, educators have to find the most efficient and effective path to accelerating learning for every student.
Guest Blog post by Jeremiah Okal-Frink, PhD, Senior Education Strategist – Dell Technologies
The 2021 SSA awards, which were 
This guest blog post was written by SETDA partner, Shannon Buerk, CEO, engage2learn, and focuses on the immediate and long-term high-value activities to address learning loss. We can turn the current challenges into an opportunity to accelerate learning using a proven 3-step process for closing achievement gaps and supporting educators with the right systems.