Closing the Digital Divide: Update From the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study

Abstract

The authors examined the progress made toward equitable technology access and use over children's first 4 years of school. The sample consisted of 8,283 public school children who attended kindergarten, 1st, and 3rd grades. In 3rd grade, high-poverty schools had significantly more computers for instruction and a smaller ratio of children to computers than did low-poverty schools. Over the first 4 years of school, however, children attending low-poverty schools had significantly more access to home computers than did those attending high-poverty schools. Children's use of computers during 3rd grade differed by school-poverty status. Results indicate that access to, and use of, a home computer, the presence of a computer area in classrooms, frequent use of the Internet, proficiency in computer use, and low-poverty school status were correlated positively with academic achievement. In contrast, frequent use of software for reading was correlated negatively with reading achievement.

Keywords:

• computer access in high- and low-poverty schools
• Early Childhood Longitudinal Study
• kindergarten
• first- and third-grade children