Charles T. Clotfelter, Helen F. Ladd and Jacob L. Vigdor - Scaling the Digital Divide: Home Computer Technology and Student Achievement

Does differential access to computer technology at home compound the educational disparities
between rich and poor? Would a program of government provision of computers to secondary
students reduce these disparities? We use administrative data on North Carolina public school
students to corroborate earlier surveys which document broad racial and socioeconomic gaps in
home computer access and use. Using within-student variation in home computer access, and
across-ZIP code variation in the timing of the introduction of high-speed internet service, we also
demonstrate that the introduction of home computer technology is associated with modest but
statistically significant and persistent negative impacts on student math and reading test scores.
Further evidence suggests that providing universal access to home computers and high-speed
internet access would broaden, rather than narrow, math and reading achievement gaps.