Supplemental Information on Ohio Students’ Internet Connectivity and Technology Access

In January 2021, the Ohio Department of Education and the Management Council partnered on an Opportunity to Learn survey, designed to gather information from Ohio’s districts on the degree to which their students have internet connectivity and technology access.

Key findings from the survey area available in a report on Data Insights: Ohio Students’ Internet Connectivity and Technology Access. The supplemental information below includes more details about:

• Opportunity to Learn Survey Details;
• Differences Across Grade Levels;
• Differences Across District Typology; and
• Equity Implications.

Opportunity to Learn Survey Details

All traditional public districts, community schools, joint vocational school districts and Educational Service Centers (ESCs) were invited to take the voluntary Opportunity to Learn survey.

The Opportunity to Learn survey included two questions:

 With respect to connectivity for remote learning:

Q: Across each grade level in your district, what percentage of children have:

1. Broadband access from home (cable, DSL, etc…)
2. Cellular connection from home (hotspot)
3. No connection from home
4. Unknown

 
With respect to devices used for remote learning:
Q: Across each grade level in your district, what percentage of children have:

1. A laptop, desktop, or tablet computer available for remote learning
2. A smartphone used for remote learning
3. No device available
4. Unknown status

Survey Participation Rate:

This report focuses on the survey results for traditional public districts, among which participation was high overall (85% or 513 districts) and across district typologies(ranging from a 77% participation rate among urban districts to an 88% participation rate among town, suburban and major urban districts). Survey respondents represent approximately 1.3 million K-12 students, or 86% of Ohio’s traditional public district enrollment. Thus, while the results do not include every traditional public district in Ohio, participation was substantial enough that the results do provide important insight into the status of student connectivity and technology access as of January 2021.

Survey Analysis
For the purposes of this analysis, results are weighted by the 2020-2021 school year fall student headcount to account for differences in enrollment across districts and, sometimes, across grade levels within districts.

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Differences Across Grade Levels

Table 1. Students’ Internet Connectivity Access, by Grade Level 

Grade Level	Connectivity from Home	No Connectivity at Home	Unknown Connectivity
Kindergarten	83%	3%	14%
1st Grade	83%	3%	14%
2nd Grade	83%	3%	14%
3rd Grade	83%	3%	14%
4th Grade	83%	3%	14%
5th Grade	83%	3%	14%
6th Grade	83%	3%	14%
7th Grade	84%	3%	14%
8th Grade	84%	3%	14%
9th Grade	84%	3%	14%
10th Grade	84%	3%	13%
11th Grade	84%	2%	14%
12th Grade	83%	2%	14%

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Table 2. Students’ Technology Access from Home, by Grade Level 

Grade Level	Technology Access at Home	No Device Available	Unknown Access
Kindergarten	88%	4%	9%
1st Grade	89%	3%	7%
2nd Grade	89%	4%	7%
3rd Grade	90%	3%	7%
4th Grade	91%	3%	6%
5th Grade	92%	3%	5%
6th Grade	93%	3%	4%
7th Grade	95%	2%	2%
8th Grade	95%	2%	4%
9th Grade	95%	2%	3%
10th Grade	95%	2%	3%
11th Grade	95%	2%	4%
12th Grade	94%	2%	4%

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Differences Across District Typology

Table 3. Students’ Internet Connectivity at Home, by District Typology 

District Typology	Connectivity from Home	No Connectivity at Home	Unknown Connectivity
Rural	79%	6%	14%
Small Town	85%	3%	11%
Suburban	83%	1%	15%
Urban	93%	4%	3%
Major Urban	75%	<1%	25%

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Table 4. Students’ Technology Access at Home, by District Typology 

District Typology	Technology Access at Home	No Device Available	Unknown Access
Rural	92%	4%	5%
Small Town	91%	4%	6%
Suburban	92%	2%	7%
Urban	95%	4%	4%
Major Urban	94%	<1%	6%

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Equity Implications

The January 2021 Opportunity to Learn survey collected district level information for all students; this design does not allow for disaggregation of results by student subgroup. To shed light on equity, the Department looked at differences in average rates of internet connectivity and technology access across districts serving relatively large percentages of specific racial/ethnic student subgroups. For this analysis, “serving a relatively large percentage” means that the racial/ethnic subgroup’s enrollment, as a percentage of the district’s overall enrollment, is in the 75^th-100^th percentile statewide.

Because of the overall racial/ethnic makeup of Ohio’s student population, as well as the concentration of some racial/ethnic subgroups among a limited number of districts, what constitutes “serving a large population” of a racial/ethnic subgroup will vary by subgroup. For example, among districts serving a large population of white students, 90% or more of the district’s student body is white. In contrast, among districts serving a large population of Asian/Pacific Islander students, the largest percentage of Asian/Pacific Islander students served by a district is 20%.

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Table 5. Average Rate of Students’ Internet Connectivity at Home for Districts Serving Large Percentages of Students in Each Racial/Ethnic Category

Student Subgroup	Connectivity from Home	No Connectivity at Home	Unknown Connectivity
American Indian/Alaskan Native	79%	3%	19%
Asian/Pacific Islander	81%	2%	17%
Black	81%	2%	17%
Hispanic	78%	2%	20%
Multiracial	80%	2%	17%
White	84%	4%	12%

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Table 6. Average Rate of Students’ Technology Access at Home for Districts Serving Large Percentages of Students in Each Racial/Ethnic Category

Student Subgroup	Technology Access at Home	No Device Available	Unknown Access
American Indian/Alaskan Native	93%	2%	5%
Asian/Pacific Islander	92%	3%	7%
Black	93%	2%	7%
Hispanic	91%	2%	8%
Multiracial	92%	2%	7%
White	91%	5%	4%

Last Modified: 10/17/2023 8:43:35 AM

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