Since the EdConnect program launched in 2020, more than 16,000 low-income students – and 28,000 of their family members – have received free internet in their homes. While the effort works to close the digital divide, researchers have discovered another benefit: Parents are showing more involvement in the education of their children.
That is important because, historically, low-income families are less likely to be engaged with their children’s education, said Gabrielle Chevalier, marketing and communications manager for the Enterprise Center, one of the organizations that helped launch EdConnect.
“When you provide internet access ubiquitously to students and their families, you all of a sudden have this elimination of the difference between which families engage with the school and which don’t,” Chevalier said by phone.
In addition to the Enterprise Center, EdConnect was created through a $7.9 million partnership between Hamilton County Schools, Hamilton County, the city of Chattanooga, EPB and other public-private partners. It’s made possible by EPB’s unique communitywide fiber optic network.
“What’s so important for us is that it’s not abstract,” Geoff Millener, chief operating officer of the Enterprise Center, said by phone. “These are very real families. It’s not just about demonstrating that we did the work, it’s really about how the research can inform the program and ensure that it works well.”