The home digital divide narrowed by 2003 and schools partially compensated, with predominantly African-American elementary students using school computers more than integrated-school students¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2007 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2012: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Gaps in home computer use across school racial composition and poverty levels decreased by 2003, and the largest school-use increases occurred in predominantly African-American and Latino schools. → Vanessa Coca 2007

Evidence¶

Vanessa Coca 2007¶

Vanessa Coca, Elaine M. Allensworth. (2007). Trends in Access to Computing Technology and Its Use in Chicago Public Schools 2001–2005. Consortium on Chicago School Research, University of Chicago. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/trends-access-computing-technology-and-its-use-chicago-public-schools-2001-2005

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Trend analysis of student computer use at home and at school by school racial composition and poverty level (Figures 9 and 10). By 2003, elementary students at predominantly African-American schools used computers at school more than students at integrated schools, and high schools no longer magnified the divide by race to the same degree.

"Increases in computer use at school were much more modest than the increases in computer use at home. However, the largest increases were in schools that predominantly served African-American or Latino students."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Race and Ethnicity — predictor: outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause

Related Claims¶

• School improvement rates varied by community type: Latino, racially diverse, and integrated schools improved disproportionately, while stagnation concentrated in predominantly African-American low-income communities — reports the opposite
• NBCTs are more likely than other teachers to work in magnet schools and less likely to work in the poorest and predominantly African American schools — related
• A digital divide exists in Chicago students' home technology use, but schools do not strongly magnify it along racial or income lines — related
• Grow use is consistently greater in predominantly African-American schools across Chicago — related
• Emergency federal funding narrowed the digital access divide during the pandemic but did not close the digital use divide — related