In its 2019 State of the States report, EducationSuperHighway declares mission accomplished on closing the connectivity gap, with 99% of the nation’s schools now having affordable and reliable broadband connections at a minimum speed of 100 kbps and with a “clear path” to scaling bandwidth for future needs. Despite the “mission accomplished” declaration, administrators and policymakers shouldn’t view this victory as definitive, but only as the beginning.
Perhaps nowhere have reliable broadband access and adequate bandwidth become more important than in states where annual high-stakes standardized tests have migrated online. While a number of glitches in these transitions have been laid at the feet of testing vendors, plenty have also resulted from schools lacking the adequate networking infrastructure and bandwidth to support a building full of students accessing exams at the same time.
