Strategies for State Leaders Working to Bridge the Digital Divide for Students

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In spring 2020, the US Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology hosted a series of listening sessions with state leaders—from state educational agencies, state broadband offices, state libraries, and state economic development agencies—to identify what digital equity issues were magnified as a result of school closings, what immediate actions states were taking to address these issues, and what long-term solutions were being considered to sustainably address these issues. This Playbook outlines seven strategies, or “plays,” that state leaders are taking to address issues of home internet and device access for students. The plays address several of the needs identified by state leaders in the listening sessions, including a need for more accurate broadband availability data and data on students’ home broadband access, a need for continued collaboration across government agencies and with internet service providers and community partners, and a need for additional training for teachers and families to effectively use the technology to improve student learning. While the Playbook and the individual plays are not intended to be prescriptive and may not be universally applicable across state contexts, they aim to share actionable strategies and state examples so that other state leaders might discover a new approach that can be adapted to their context.


Strategies for State Leaders Working to Bridge the Digital Divide for Students