Although
approximately one in five students in US public elementary and secondary
schools lives in a rural area,1rural students are often overlooked
when it comes to education policy reform.2The
majority of rural students in nearly half the states are from low-income
families,3generally earn lower scores on
standardized high school assessments,4lack
access to rigorous coursework,5and attend college at lower rates than
do students from non-rural areas.6Efforts
to ameliorate the effects of some of these issues depend increasingly on access
to technology such as broadband and devices.
Access to technology is important
for education, not only because there is a plethora of technology-based
resources for learning, but also to teach students the basic computer skills
that are important for many careers.7Further,
rural students may have a greater need for technology compared to their
non-rural peers in order to access courses not offered at their school8 and to increase opportunities for personalized learning.9 This project’s purpose is to provide information on rural
students’ access to technology, coursework, and extracurricular activities in
various facets of their high school experience. This report informs policy
decisions for providing rural students with the same opportunities as their
non-rural peers.
Data
The
data for this report come from two different student surveys administered to
selected students who participated in national ACT®testing in 2018.The primary survey was related to technology
access and includes over 6,000 respondents.10In
addition to the sample of students who completed the online survey, a
subsequent random sample of students who either did not start the survey, or
started but did not finish, were sent a paper copy of the survey in addition to
the electronic version.11The data from the primary survey were
paired with background data collected when students registered for the ACT to
provide additional information on course taking and extracurricular activities.
The secondary survey asked students about their college-bearing credit
coursework, and approximately 5,600 students responded to it.12
Findings
Technology
Access
Rural
areas are less likely to have access to broadband internet.13Twenty-seven percent of rural residents do nothave accessto
broadband at a minimum speed for consistently receiving high-quality voice,
data, graphics, and video or supporting multiple streams within a household.14Although the Federal Communications Commission provides funding
for the E-Rate Program, which provides eligible schools and libraries discounts
of up to 90% to fund affordable telecommunications and internet access,156% of schools still do not meet federal connectivity benchmarks—and
the vast majority of those schools are in rural areas.16Similar to other studies, our survey of high school students
who took part in ACT testing indicated that rural17and non-rural students had differing access to technology.
In terms of internet connectivity, rural students were less likely than
non-ruralstudents to claim that their home internet access was “great” (36% vs.
46%).
Similarly,
rural students were almost twice as likely as non-rural students to state that
their internet access was “unpredictable” (16% vs. 9%). At school, however,
there were no substantive differences in reported internet quality between
rural and non-rural students. Rural and non-rural students also had differing
access to devices both at school and at home. Notably, rural students reported
somewhat less access to a laptop or desktop computer at home compared to non-rural
students (82% vs. 87%).
Access
to a computer with a dedicated keyboard also varied between rural and non-rural
students. Lack of such access may make schoolwork-related tasks like conducting
research or writing more difficult. Rural students did, however, report
somewhat higher levels of access to laptop and desktop computers at school
compared to non-rural students (83% vs. 80%). Conversely, at school, rural
students reported somewhat less access to tablets and Chromebooks compared to
non-rural students (51% vs. 56%). In addition, a higher percentage of rural
students reported access to only one device at home compared to students in
non-ruralareas (24% vs. 11%).
Given the potential benefits of one-to-one device
initiatives, the lack of access to devices could create additional disparities
in access to more personalized learning opportunities.19Finally, lower percentages ofrural students than non-rural
students reported using technology to research/find information online (51% vs.
57%) and to complete homework assignments (59% vs. 68%).
Course
Taking
ACT
research has found that students who complete a minimum core curriculum that includes
four years of English, three years of mathematics (including rigorous courses
in Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II), three years of science (including rigorous courses in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics), and three years of social studies earn higher ACT
scores than those who do not.20Of the students we surveyed, those in
rural areas were less likely than non-rural students to complete (or plan to
complete) the ACT-recommended core curriculum (76% vs. 81%).
Because rural schools
are typically smaller in size, they may lack sufficient staff to teach additional
or advanced courses. For example, a study from 2009 found that 50% of students
in rural areas and small towns attend schools that only offer one to three advanced
mathematicscourses.21Similarly, the rural students in our study
were less likely than non-rural students to report taking or planning to take advanced
math and science courses. (Figure 3).
For
instance, 60% of non-rural students either took or planned to take calculus, compared
to only 52% of rural students. Rural students were also less likely than
non-rural students to report taking or planning to take physics (61% vs. 73%)
or chemistry (88% vs. 94%). In addition to general advanced courses offered by
schools, many high schools offer programs, suc h as dual enrollment or Advanced
Placement (AP), that provide students with the opportunity to take courses that
could result in college credit. These credit-bearing college-level courses
expose studentsto the rigor of college coursework and potentially allow them to
complete a bachelor’s degree in less time once they reach college.22
Past research indicates that rural students are increasingly
able to participate in such programs but not necessarily at the rate of access
as their non-rural peers.23In a separate ACT survey of high school
students related to credit-bearing college courses,24only 50% of the rural respondents reported being enrolled in
a course during the academic year that awards college credit, compared to 60%
of non-rural students .
Prior
research also suggests that rural students are more likely than non-rural
students to participate in dual enrollment courses via distance learning
instead of being taught on a college campus where the experience tends to be
more authentic and encompassing.25Consistent with the prior research,
rural students in our study were more likely than non-rural students to enroll
in dual or concurrent enrollment courses and less likely than non-rural
students to participate in AP courses.
Of
the students who reported participating in dual enrollment programs, rural
students were more likely than non-rural students to enroll in an online course
(24% vs. 13%;) an 11% gap between the two groups. While these results show that
rural students, relative to non-rural students, are more likely to enroll in
online dual enrollment programs, as noted previously, rural students are also
less likely to have the technological devices they need to complete school-related
activities.
Extracurricular
Activities
Participation
in extracurricular activities is one area in which rural students may have
greater access than non-rural students. Extracurricular activities provide
students with an opportunity to explore academic and non-academic interests.26Extracurricular activity participation is related to school
engagement27and may also reduce the likelihood of
dropping out of school.28
Further, participation in certain
extracurricular activities may be related to student learning growth. ACT
research has found that activities such as community service, instrumental
music, and debate are all positively related to academic growth, but
fraternities/sororities and other social clubs, radio/TV, and varsity athletics
are negatively related to growth.29
Overall,
there were differences in the percentage of rural and non-rural students
participating in extracurricular activities, except for participation in
community service. The largest differences in participation were reported for activities
that require larger groups of students (e.g., varsity athletics, instrumental
music, and vocal music). This is not surprising since rural schools may need to
recruit relatively large proportions of students in order to have the numbers
needed for full group participation.
No comments:
Post a Comment