
On the other hand, the least-equipped city for remote learning, according to our ranking, was Detroit, Michigan, which scored only 37.3 out of a possible 100 points. A number of factors including over 20% of households without computer access and a citywide median household income of $29,481 impacted Detroit’s score. As reported by the Detroit Free Press, resurgence of COVID-19 infections across the city forced schools back online later into the 2020-21 school year, an unfortunate challenge for many families looking to support education.
Other low-scoring cities included Memphis, Tennessee; New Orleans, Louisiana and Miami, Florida. Notably, all of the cities included in the top 10 least-equipped cities for remote learning had average tutoring costs of at least $39 per hour. That means that for families looking to add individualized support to their children’s education, the cost may not be attainable.
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Finally, we know that while some cities aren’t well-equipped for remote learning, educational support funding may not be a top priority for policymakers. Therefore, we decided to look at the cities on the list with the highest percentage of the population under 18 years of age. We saw this as an indication of the cities with the most at stake in success or failure in remote education.
At the top of the list was Salt Lake City, Utah, where over 27% of the population is under 18 years of age. Interestingly, despite this high percentage of young people, Salt Lake City was not listed as one of the top 20 cities in terms of remote learning resources, suggesting a need gap for this vast number of students in the area.
In fact, some of the cities with the greatest percentage of the population consisting of K-12-aged students, were included in the bottom 20 cities for remote learning resources, including Memphis, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and San Antonio, Texas.
Overall, our analysis made it quite clear that across the country, cities can be doing a better job of setting students up for success in a digital classroom. Even the highest-ranking cities still scored significantly less than the possible 100 points, suggesting areas to improve across the board.
Still, there are many things students can do to be successful online. Whether you're earning your degree in California, Texas, or Florida, students can set themselves up for success by eliminating distractions and managing time to avoid digital exhaustion, as noted in a blog post on succeeding in GCU online programs. We applaud all the online students and educators out there for their commitment to learning no matter what.
Retrieved from:
1https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/HCN010212 in November 2020.
2https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/HCN010212 in November 2020.
3https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/HCN010212 in November 2020.
4https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/HCN010212 in November 2020.
5https://www.findtutorsnearme.com/hourly-tutor-rates-by-major-city/ in November 2020.
6https://www.epi.org/child-care-costs-in-the-united-states/ in November 2020.
7https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/data/ever-diagnosed-ADHD.html in November 2020.
8https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/per-pupil-spending-by-state in November 2020.
9https://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/43-children-in-poverty-100-percent-poverty?loc=1&loct=2#detailed/2/2-53/false/1729,37,871,870,573,869,36,868,867,133/any/321,322 in November 2020.
10https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-ways-support-kids-adhd-during-remote-learning in November 2020.
11https://www.seattleschools.org/district/calendars/news/what_s_new/remote_learning_fall_2020 in November 2020.