This week, one article stood out from the rest as I looked through my Google Alerts results. It comes from Education Week's Technology Counts 2017issue. The article is titled "Poor Students Face Digital Divide in How Teachers Learn to Use Tech". The author, Benjamin Herold, focuses on two very different school districts in Allegheny County, PA. The first, South Fayette Intermediate School, is an exemplary model of how a school focused on tech and student focused learning should be run. The second, Sto-Rox High School, has minimal focus on technology in comparison. The school is not equipped for students to have easy access to technological tools, and teachers are not trained in how to use technology in their classrooms.
The big difference? South Fayette is in a predominately white, low-poverty area, whereas Sto-Rox is faced with 77% of its students living in poverty. Not only that, but Sto-Rox is losing 20% of its budget each year, and most likely its more promising students, to area charter schools as students have left looking for better options. In South Fayette, it is easier to make technology a priority as things like school safety sit higher on the priority list at Sto-Rox.
It is easy to see that there is a digital divide in the opportunities students have to access and learn with technology in these schools. However, Herold found that lack of teacher training is an issue across the board. The administration at South Fayette is working to change that and has hired a STEAM teacher to work with students and teachers to provide more technology based lessons and activities. In Sto-Rox, administration is more focused on working with the local police department and trying to prepare students for the working class jobs most will be headed for after graduation.
This is not to say that there is not hope, although the divide is large and hasn't seemed to be closing much in recent years. Some teachers at Sto-Rox have been working with Pittsburgh based foundations and organizations to receive grants for resources and training to try to provide more opportunities for their students. While they have a bigger challenge to face than teachers in other more affluent districts, they are proving that there are ways to try to make technology-based learning accessible to all students.
My take-away from the article is this - many teachers of English Language Learners are probably facing similar situations to the Sto-Rox teachers. The majority of our students are low-income, and priority is probably on other things. Even if we are not hearing the message from administration, we should be taking the initiative to find grants, foundations, and supporters to help us get technology into the hands of our students as well as advocate for more training for ourselves.
I work in an urban area that deals with a great divide as well! It is infuriating to me that our education system in PA is not equitable. How is this kind of inequity still going on! I know teachers of these Title 1 schools can advocate for their students and pursue grants and foundations but the turn over rate in these districts is high because of the demands on these teachers, These teachers are pressured daily to bridge years of gaps without the tools and support. There are some days I go home and just sleep because I am so emotionally and physically drained. The crazy part is we are expected to be miracle workers and sometimes just sometimes we see one! That what keeps me going!
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