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October 1, 2002
Decreasing the Digital Divide: Success at Southside Elementary School
By Jennifer Williams and Rosa Duarte
The Digital Divide is the gap between those students and families who have access to information technology and those who do not. While some communities are gaining access to information technologies, others are falling further behind. In many schools, teachers still do not have the basic technological tools to accomplish their jobs, even in this "digital age." It is vital that we provide these tools to all educators, students and their families. We need to bridge the Digital Divide by providing equal digital opportunity to all students of every economic level.
One positive example is Citibank FamilyTech, which provides these tools through its pioneering effort to level the technological playing field for low-income students and families in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Low-income students not only have little or no computer contact, but they are also divided from mainstream America because they lack access to the Internet. According to the 2000 U.S. Department of Commerce report Falling Through the Net: Toward Digital Inclusion:
- With regard to computer ownership, the divide appears to have stabilized, but it remains unacceptably large.
- The August 2000 gap between Black households and the national average rate with regard to computer ownership was 18 percentage points (a 32.6% penetration rate for Black households, compared to 51.0% for households nationally). That gap is statistically no different from the gap that existed in December 1998.
- Similarly, the 17-percentage point difference between the share of Hispanic households with a computer (33.7%) and the national average (51%) did not register a statistically significant change from the December 1998 computer divide.
- Although Americans at every income level are connecting at far higher rates from their homes, the trend is strongest at the middle-income levels. Internet access among households earning $35,000 to $49,000 rose from 29% in December 1998 to 46.1% in August 2000. Today, more than two-thirds of all households earning more than $50,000 have Internet connections (60.9% for households earning $50,000 to $74,999 and 77.7% for households earning above $75,000).
Citibank FamilyTech is designed to address the problems of school reform and technological advancement among low-income public school students and their families. It is one of the programs of The Education Fund, a non-profit organization created in 1985 to design, shape and implement initiatives that involve the private sector in improving our schools and bringing excellence to public education. Major funders for the Citibank FamilyTech project are the Citigroup Foundation, Citibank, the Ethel and W. George Kennedy Foundation, the Allegany Franciscan Foundation, and the A.T.&T. Foundation.
Citibank FamilyTech is a pioneering effort that levels the technological playing field for young students from low-income families in Miami-Dade County. The student population of Miami-Dade County Public Schools is more than 350,000, making it the nation's fourth-largest school district. It is also one of the poorest: nearly 70 percent of the district's elementary students are on free or reduced lunch programs. For these students, computer ownership is often just a dream. The breadwinners of poor families have less access to computers in the workplace. The children of these low-income families are less likely to have access to computers at school or to have teachers with adequate computer skills.
The schools that participate in the Citibank FamilyTech program are all located in predominantly low-income neighborhoods. In the last four years, companies and individuals have donated more than 4,000 computers and an excess of $600,000 in computer equipment to the FamilyTech program, now in its fifth year. In turn, FamilyTech has given these computers to more than 2,700 students. These students and their parents are trained to assemble and operate the computers before bringing them home. And, to ensure that the home computers stimulate academic achievement, the children's teachers are trained to incorporate technology effectively into classroom curriculum. Teachers who use curriculum incorporating computer-related projects have reinforced computers skills in the classrooms. Together, families have learned how to use their computers to gather information and to complete class work and homework. By involving the entire family, Citibank FamilyTech has helped low-income parents become active participants in their children's education while learning marketable computer skills themselves.
One of the major success stories of the program has occurred at Southside Bilingual Elementary School, built in 1917 in a diverse community of low-income semi-skilled blue-collar workers. The school serves 425 students, including pre-kindergartners. Of the total population, 93% are of mixed Hispanic heritage. Eighty-seven percent of the students are on free or reduced lunch. Sixty-two percent of the student population is limited English proficient, of which 93% are in kindergarten.
Under Florida's A+ Plan, Southside Elementary improved from a "D" rated school in the 1998-99 school year to an "A" rated school in the 1999-2000 school year. For the 1999-2000 school year, 80% of fourth-grade students scored Level 2 or above, and 50% scored a Level 3 or above on the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT) Reading section. More than 93% of students scored a Level 3 or above on the FCAT Writing test. Additionally, 88% of students in fifth grade scored a Level 2 or above, and more than 76% scored a Level 3 or above on the FCAT Math test. These scores reflect a 26% increase in Reading, a 29% increase in Math, and a 30% increase in Writing.
The Citibank FamilyTech program supports the mission of Southside Elementary to create an environment in which students, staff and parents are empowered to function effectively and responsibly in a multicultural society. The central goal to ensure reading success for every child is supported by a rigorous program that addresses the needs of every child. Now in its fourth year at the school, the Citibank FamilyTech program was one of the programs implemented at the school to meet these goals.
Technology has become an integral part of the curriculum. All classrooms are equipped with five networked computers with access to Compass Learning programs. The T1 Line allows all computers to access the Internet and portables have access via a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) to the main building. As a Citibank FamilyTech school, Southside brings families, school and communities together through technology. The A.W.A.R.E. (Acquisition of Writing and Reading Enrichment) Center is a state-of-the-art multimedia learning laboratory. TechPerts, students who are enthusiastic about technology, meet to explore, learn and apply the many aspects of computers to their learning. The Southside Express, a computer-generated monthly newsletter is solely produced by second- through fifth-grade Academic Excellence students.
Another component of Citibank FamilyTech at Southside is an Internet pilot project in which three classes and their families received Internet-ready Pentium-I home computers. Training sessions included instructing parents in basic Internet search techniques and locating educational Web sites. The program gives both parents and teachers the ability to communicate via Email and The Education Fund's Web site, which hosts a Citibank FamilyTech live Web board. The program will continue to expand its Internet component by delivering an additional 500 computers to all Citibank FamilyTech schools in the 2002-2003 school year.
And here are two testimonials from a teacher and a parent:
- "The program has improved my students' technological skills, preparing them for the new millennium. The children are eager to participate and share the work they have done on their computers at home." (Mrs. Viola Rodriguez, fifth-grade teacher, Southside Bilingual Elementary)
- "I am very happy with the program because the computer is tomorrow's future. I am also very thankful to Citibank FamilyTech for the computer because I do not have the means of buying one myself." (Mrs. Lazcano, parent, Southside Bilingual Elementary)
Education methods and strategies of today and tomorrow demand a transformation of teaching, a move from the traditional use of textbooks, lectures and chalkboards to technology with its myriad and fast moving possibilities of instruction and learning. Education must meet the needs of all students, native and immigrant. Citibank FamilyTech, with its financial, technical and ongoing support to students and families, offers a comprehensive and complete model in this transformation. Without this program, students and their families at Southside Elementary would be without equitable and effective access to modern technologies. With the continued support of the Citibank FamilyTech program, the school will continue to envision itself as a place where teachers are facilitators of learning and every student achieves success through technology. Like The Little Engine That Could, Southside instills in students the belief: I think I can, I think I can, I know I can!
E-mail: Jennifer Williams and Rosa Duarte
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