Perhaps nowhere is the digital divide more apparent than in rural school districts like ours. Montgomery County School District covers 491 square miles in a hilly, heavily forested area of south-central North Carolina within the Uwharrie National Forest and mountain range. Almost 22 percent of our families live below the federal poverty level, and 74 percent of our students are labeled economically disadvantaged. Our teen pregnancy rate is nearly double that of the state (North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics, 2016). Of our total student population, 12 percent are limited English proficient and 13 percent are students with disabilities. Our student body is composed mostly of high-need subgroups, which are historically at risk for educational failure or require special assistance or support.
According to a statement by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler, Americans living in urban areas are three times more likely to have access to next-generation broadband than those living in rural areas. Plus, an estimated 15 million Americans, primarily in rural communities, don't even have access to entry-level broadband in their homes (Federal Communications Commission, 2014).
When you consider the multitude of companies that offer high-quality learning materials delivered on the Internet in addition to the breadth of information accessible online, you can understand why a lack of Internet access can put students like ours at a real disadvantage. This leads to a cycle of inequality that leaves generation upon generation undereducated, underemployed, and trapped in poverty (Viaene & Zilcha, 2009). This cycle weighs heavily on many districts in remote locations.
Launching the Initiative
A few years ago, we met with a committee of stakeholders to work on a solution for breaking our community's cycle of inequality. We determined that our students and teachers were struggling with inconsistent technology access, a lack of digital literacy, and limited course offerings.
To address these needs, we designed a project called A Culture Creating Effective Systems for Success (ACCESS), which involved our entire community—our board of education, building and district administrators, educators, parents, students, business leaders, local politicians, and non-profit organizations. The initiative includes the following components:
- Providing high-quality teaching and learning resources that can be accessed anytime, anywhere.
- Expanding the reach of effective teachers by creating ACCESS Ambassadors.
- Supporting instructional redesign and providing new opportunities for professional learning.
- Creating a process for teachers and students to readily access assessment data to improve instruction and monitor student progress.
To execute the components of ACCESS and to better prepare our students to graduate life-ready and globally competitive, we decided to implement a 1:1 initiative. We realized that in addition to assistance from our board of education, we would need some outside support. We applied for and won an Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund grant from the U.S. Department of Education and received additional support from partners Curriculum Associates, Golden LEAF Foundation, and Dream Builders Communications, as well as many local businesses.
Thanks to this support, we are now providing laptops to all students in grades 3–12 and iPads to students in grades K–2. We are also supplying Internet access in a number of ways throughout the community so students can study, complete assignments, and take online courses.
Hot Spots of Learning
Implementing such drastic changes could not have taken place without the work of many change agents. One of the first steps we took was to institute a "hot spot committee" made up of key stakeholders, including the mayor from each of the towns our district serves, Internet providers in the area, and community members. This committee devised multiple ways to increase connectivity for students.
First, they determined that we needed to put mobile hot spots on school buses. We focused on the buses with the longest commutes (up to 2 hours) and worked with Verizon to outfit these buses first. Students who ride these buses can now complete homework before and after school. "The Wi-Fi is very beneficial, especially for those who do not have access at home," says Griselda, an 8th grade student at East Middle School. "It really helps provide time to ensure you can stay on top of your school work."
Interestingly, we've noted a 75 percent decrease in reported discipline issues on the buses. Before we added the mobile hot spots, students were restless on the long rides home and often engaged in disruptive behavior. Now students work independently or collaborate on homework assignments. To make sure that students are using the Wi-Fi for education purposes and to ensure cyber safety, we have a bandwidth throttle to prevent video streaming and also monitor and respond to traffic daily. Not only have behavior problems decreased, but student grades have also increased since the program began in fall of 2015. For example, between the 2014–15 and 2015–16 school years, middle school students' scores rose by 60.5 percent in reading and 40.5 percent in math, according to mid-year iReady reports.
As a second way to provide increased access, the committee determined that we should provide hot spots throughout the community. Currently, we provide hot spots in three of our five municipalities, including at McDonald's and Bojangles' restaurants, as well as the county library, Eldorado Outpost, and two town halls. We are working with local governments, non-profits, and faith-based organizations to increase the number of hot spots and provide service to all five municipalities. We now also offer mobile hot spots that students can check out and take home. This has helped us provide access for students who are out of school, including our significant population of teenage mothers.
In addition to our hot spot committee, we also established an advisory council that meets quarterly. This council is made up of the ACCESS project advisor, management team, and evaluation team, as well as instructional technology specialists, library media specialists, principals, teachers, and parents. This group provides operational oversight and guidance on program strategies. Similarly, we have media and technology advisory committees in each school to provide school-level program implementation guidance, such as professional development strategies to meet technology needs.
Last, and probably most important, we recruited ACCESS Ambassadors using a train-the-trainer model. Our ambassadors are highly effective teachers who work on instructional redesign and the implementation of connected teaching with our educators. They are selected at the school level and agree to learn how to enhance their teaching environment using digital tools.
The ambassadors have been trained on approaches to streamline technology use so that it becomes a culture rather than an option for teaching and learning. They attended the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University, a premier provider for moving toward digital and blended-learning formats. The ambassadors also participated in training to learn what student-led classrooms look like, as our goal is to shift to more student-centered environments when appropriate. The ACCESS Ambassadors receive support from a local leadership team, which includes all principals, central office, and building administration staff. This team participates in quarterly trainings to learn how to transform the learning culture and what assistance the ambassadors and teachers need to make the transition.
Supporting a Change in Instruction
When our district first talked about the ACCESS initiative back in 2014, there was a lot of conjecture in the teacher's lounge about what it meant for the teachers. Some thought, "Great, we can reach more children who live in poverty with extra support for homework, and our homebound children will have more instruction." Others were more apprehensive about how to incorporate technology in their daily planning.
That is where the ambassadors come in. Our ambassadors are expected to take a grassroots approach to facilitate teachers' technology adoption. For instance, when talking with another teacher, an ambassador might say, "I think you might like administering your quizzes online using Quizlet instead of paper and pencil," and then go on to describe a lesson that uses these quizzes. The ambassador would later follow up with the teacher to see whether he or she has used the suggestion. If the teacher has yet to implement the suggestion or has experienced difficulty, the ambassador would offer to model the lesson.
In another instance, an ambassador might say, "I heard your students talking about hurricanes in class. I have a really cool idea for how they could use their laptops to research hurricanes for different regions." This type of bottom-up sharing has led teachers to adopt technology fairly quickly.
Over time, we'd like to move toward a flipped classroom model—one where teachers create online lessons and courses in a learning management system so that students can hear a lesson in school and then hear it again at home if necessary. Alternatively, teachers might create video lessons for students to watch on their own and then devote class time to asking questions, holding discussions, and building critical thinking skills.
The video instruction is especially crucial for our homebound students. If their parents can't help them with the content, these students tend to fall behind quickly. The videos help make learning accessible so students don't lose ground.
In this shift, we're working to teach our students to use technology as a learning tool. We found early on that our students weren't learning from the videos posted in our lessons. They passively watched the videos and did not retain any of the information. As a result, we taught students notetaking skills and strategies for how to think about what was happening in the video.
Change Takes Time
To date we are ahead of our target for the number of times students use their laptops for learning. Our goal was a 25 percent increase, and we've already seen usage rise by 45 percent. Our plans for the future include becoming a blended-learning environment rooted in student-centered practices. We will continue to provide needs-based professional development for our teachers on topics such as how to build a digital lesson, manage a collaborative classroom, and use a learning management system. In addition, our teachers will visit model classrooms that we call "fishbowls" where early adopters model digital tools and explain how to infuse technology into the curriculum.
With great training, amazing community support, and a clear mission to prepare our students for college and career through instructional excellence, we can break our community's cycle of inequality and provide digital access for all.
