Self-Regulated Online Learning Questionnaire
Category: Student Learning
Policymakers have argued that expanding home broadband would improve educational outcomes. However, prior studies report mixed, null, or negative effects on achievement, with limited post-pandemic evidence. Using district-level achievement and enrollment data from a national broadband subsidy program serving 23 million low-income households, we examine whether increased uptake is associated with reading/language arts (RLA) and math achievement among economically disadvantaged (ECD) students across 7,825 districts from 2021–22 to 2023–24. Two-way fixed-effects estimates indicate that doubling subsidy uptake is associated with a 0.02 SD decline in math achievement and a 0.05 SD decline in RLA achievement, equivalent to 3.3% and 8.3% of the ECD/non-ECD gap. A placebo test using non-ECD students and an instrumental variables specification support these findings.
Keywords
Broadband, home internet, achievement, inequality
Education level
Document Object Identifier (DOI)
10.26300/3wm9-2n46
