How Verizon Innovative Learning helps teachers power up the great equalizer by shutting down the digital divide.
That’s what congressman Horace Mann said the U.S. public education system should strive to be in 1848.
That aphorism has echoed through the hallways of pedagogy for more than a century, but in 2020 — and especially in the time of COVID-19 — many educators across the country will say that the great equalizer doesn’t make the grade.
Estimates vary, but it is said that today nearly 5 million students in K-12 public schools don’t have access to internet speeds required for effective digital learning, and many more lack the devices and skills needed to be ready for tomorrow’s workforce.
With the help of government grants, nonprofit organizations and corporations, school districts and their educators are finding ways to get the internet and devices into the hands of their students, especially during the pandemic. For example, Verizon’s Innovative Learning Schools program (VILS) provides students in select Title 1 schools (where a majority of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch) with a laptop or tablet computer — each equipped with a data plan — and educational resources for their teachers.
VILS is part of Citizen Verizon, which is Verizon’s plan for economic, environmental and social advancement, aiming to provide 10 million youths with digital skills training by 2030.
But what was meant to enhance in-person schooling has proven to be crucial when schools switched to distance-learning almost overnight. Because the VILS schools were well-positioned for the sudden pivot at the start of the pandemic, students each had a device with connectivity that gave them access to the internet at home, and teachers were already tapping in to digital resources provided by VILS, making them able to continue teaching their curriculum virtually.
A principal in New Orleans, an educator in rural Tennessee and students in urban Compton — each part of the VILS program — share how the internet has never been more important to education than it is now.
“The great equalizer.”
Zondra Howard
Danielle McClary
Mark Sandoval & Valerie Rodriguez
Chilhowee Middle School
& Copper Basin High School
Zondra Howard
A vast network of schools from Vermont to Maui participate in Verizon Innovative Learning. From the rural mountains of Tennessee to the urban blocks of NYC, more than 200,000 students and 13,000 educators are each equipped with a free tablet or laptop, data plan and immersive STEM-focused experience.
And at Harriet Tubman Charter Blue Campus in New Orleans, Principal Zondra Howard was all set to introduce the VILS program to her faculty and students earlier this year — until the pandemic hit. “Pre-COVID, this was going to be a way that we were going to close that equity gap, right?” she says.
1. ThE Principal
Having Verizon in our school has really allowed us to have school — and to make school come to life in the homes of our students.
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Conquering
The Divide
Polk County, TN
Mark | Davis Middle School
Valerie | Bunche Middle School
Compton, CA
Harriet Tubman Charter Blue Campus
New Orleans, LA
“We were excited about having the Verizon one-to-one devices. But now, in this post-COVID society, it’s not just an excitement, it’s a necessity. Our students could have fallen even further behind by not having access to computers, which then in turn meant they wouldn’t have access to school.”
The student body at Tubman includes a composite of those who have come from nearby failing schools and were once behind, and Howard says they are making “tremendous gains every year. They’re students who are constantly pushing themselves — and teachers are constantly pushing them — towards mastery. I think it’s unfair to say that just because you come from a community that is poor, or because your families work really hard and can’t afford to have this extra luxury in their house of a computer or internet, that you don’t have access to the things that will help you succeed later in life. I think it’s a responsibility of us as educators and as a community to provide all of our students with the best footing and access to the things that they need in order to better their lives and, ultimately, better their quality of life and opportunities. Having access to these computers not only gives us the opportunity to give more students a way to engage in school, but it also allows us to give them the things that other students have access to, to hopefully start to level this huge gap that exists between those that have, and those that don’t.”
Photos courtesy of Zondra Howard & Karen Johnston
Tucked into the most south-eastern corner of Tennessee, in Polk County, you’ll find two schools in the VILS program separated by a national forest and a mountain. Educator Danielle McClary says that this means that many of the schools’ students “live pretty isolated in mountainous areas. Connectivity is really difficult. Even if you want the internet, sometimes in some places, it’s not possible to get it. So because of all those factors, we have a large number of students that are low socioeconomic students.”
McClary is a VILS Coach — through the program’s first three years, VILS provides a stipend for a full-time coach to support teachers as they learn to integrate technology into instruction — for Chilhowee Middle School and Copper Basin High School, and says that when they joined VILS in 2017, it was an adjustment to transition into a tech-forward curriculum. “We spent a lot of time teaching the students the device and how to use the different programs that we were using, and teaching ourselves at the same time.”
So it was with this foundation in place that, when the pandemic forced schools to shut down in Polk County, McClary says that “we went from everyone is learning in person on our normal school schedule, to learning completely virtually. It was a huge adjustment for our district. Our district office all talked about how grateful we were that two of our schools were Verizon Innovative Learning Schools, because we had this amazing foundation at those two schools already. All of our students had a device, and our teachers had all been trained on the tools that were necessary to teach virtually.”
In a survey of VILS participants, 78% of teachers in the program say that VILS enhanced student engagement, 85% say VILS allowed for more individualized instruction and 63% say they believe VILS enhanced positive interactions among students in the classroom. And based on results from Tennessee testing during the 2018-19 school year, Chilhowee and Copper Basin achieved the highest possible growth score, Level 5, making them among the most improved in the state.
“
VILS changed how our students learned, but it was really a game changer for all of our teachers, because it opened up a whole new area of teaching that we literally did not have access to before.
Photos courtesy of Danielle McClary
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At least 84% of the students participating in VILS qualify for free or reduced lunches, and many say they’re unable to do their homework because they don’t have a computer or access to reliable internet.
Kristin Townsend, deputy director of VILS at Digital Promise, the nonprofit partner organization developing the program with Verizon, explains that VILS students likely rely on a hotspot from a phone, “or maybe they’re sharing one computer with many, many siblings and other adults in the house. More than half of our schools say they feel behind, and feeling behind leads them to be disappointed, stressed or concerned when they think about their futures. We want our students to feel confident and excited about what lays ahead of them.”
VILS began in 2014 with nine schools in the first cohort, but in the 2020-21 school year it will count 264 schools in its program, with a goal of reaching 350 by end of 2021.
In Compton, California, 13-year-old Mark Sandoval says VILS has provided him with more than physical equipment; it has opened him up to a new way of thinking about his future. “A while back, I was actually quite shy to talk about things because I never had opportunities, I never had as much technology. So I wasn’t very outgoing. But thanks to Verizon, we were able to release our creativity. Being in VILS has helped me in a lot of things.”
In a survey of VILS students, more than half (54%) say they believe having the device provided to them improved their confidence in the things they can do, and 59% say they believe the assignments are easier when using a tablet, and for students learning at home while the nation practices social distancing, the devices and access have proven to be even more valuable.
“It definitely helps me stay on track,” says Valerie Rodriguez, a 13-year-old at Bunche Middle School in Compton. “Working from home is a bit more comfortable than going to school. And all my work is online, so I don’t have anything like papers missing, and I get to turn everything in online and I have everything to help me research. It really helped with being at home and doing our work here with it. It’s really a great opportunity for Verizon to help us out during these tough times.”
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Some of us don’t have Wi-Fi at all. So thanks to Verizon, we were able to do assignments at home. It has expanded our education.
Photos courtesy of Jose Gonzalez, Mark Sandoval & Valerie Rodriguez
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From Verizon:
Connectivity and technology should be available to all. By supporting digital inclusion initiatives, Verizon enables individuals and communities to develop the knowledge and skills to thrive in the digital age. From digital inclusion to climate protection and investing into human prosperity, Citizen Verizon’s plan for economic, environmental and social advancement is on track to provide 10 million youths with digital access by 2030. Learn more at Verizon.com.
3
The STUDENTS
2
The COACH
1
The Principal
New Orleans, LA
1
2
3
CITIZEN VERIZON:
Verizon Innovative Learning is one of many programs under Citizen Verizon, a global initiative with a goal to move the world forward for good by expanding digital access and resources, protecting the climate and ensuring people have the skills needed for jobs of the future.
Danielle
McClary
Polk County, TN
2. ThE COACH
3. ThE Students
Mark & Valerie
Mark | Davis Middle School
Valerie | Bunche Middle School
COMPTON, CA
Chilhowee Middle School
& Copper Basin High School
Harriet Tubman Charter Blue Campus
— Zondra Howard
— Danielle McClary
— Mark Sandoval
Zondra Howard
1
1
The Principal
Harriet Tubman Charter Blue Campus
New Orleans, LA
Danielle McClary
2
1
The COACH
Chilhowee Middle School
& Copper Basin High School
Polk County, TN
1. ThE Principal
Zondra Howard
Harriet Tubman Charter Blue Campus
New Orleans, LA
A vast network of schools from Vermont to Maui participate in Verizon Innovative Learning. From the rural mountains of Tennessee to the urban blocks of NYC, more than 200,000 students and 13,000 educators are each equipped with a free tablet or laptop, data plan and immersive STEM-focused experience.
And at Harriet Tubman Charter Blue Campus in New Orleans, Principal Zondra Howard was all set to introduce the VILS program to her faculty and students earlier this year — until the pandemic hit. “Pre-COVID, this was going to be a way that we were going to close that equity gap, right?” she says.
“
Having Verizon in our school has really allowed us to have school — and to make school come to life in the homes of our students.
- Zondra Howard
Photos courtesy of Zondra Howard
“We were excited about having the Verizon one-to-one devices. But now, in this post-COVID society, it’s not just an excitement, it’s a necessity. Our students could have fallen even further behind by not having access to computers, which then in turn meant they wouldn’t have access to school.”
The student body at Tubman includes a composite of those who have come from nearby failing schools and were once behind, and Howard says they are making “tremendous gains every year. They’re students who are constantly pushing themselves — and teachers are constantly pushing them — towards mastery. I think it’s unfair to say that just because you come from a community that is poor, or because your families work really hard and can’t afford to have this extra luxury in their house of a computer or internet, that you don’t have access to the things that will help you succeed later in life. I think it’s a responsibility of us as educators and as a community to provide all of our students with the best footing and access to the things that they need in order to better their lives and, ultimately, better their quality of life and opportunities. Having access to these computers not only gives us the opportunity to give more students a way to engage in school, but it also allows us to give them the things that other students have access to, to hopefully start to level this huge gap that exists between those that have, and those that don’t.”
BACK TO TOP
1. ThE Principal
Zondra Howard
A vast network of schools from Vermont to Maui participate in Verizon Innovative Learning. From the rural mountains of Tennessee to the urban blocks of NYC, more than 200,000 students and 13,000 educators are each equipped with a free tablet or laptop, data plan and immersive STEM-focused experience.
And at Harriet Tubman Charter Blue Campus in New Orleans, Principal Zondra Howard was all set to introduce the VILS program to her faculty and students earlier this year — until the pandemic hit. “Pre-COVID, this was going to be a way that we were going to close that equity gap, right?” she says.
“
Having Verizon in our school has really allowed us to have school — and to make school come to life in the homes of our students.
- Zondra Howard
Photos courtesy of Zondra Howard
“We were excited about having the Verizon one-to-one devices. But now, in this post-COVID society, it’s not just an excitement, it’s a necessity. Our students could have fallen even further behind by not having access to computers, which then in turn meant they wouldn’t have access to school.”
The student body at Tubman includes a composite of those who have come from nearby failing schools and were once behind, and Howard says they are making “tremendous gains every year. They’re students who are constantly pushing themselves — and teachers are constantly pushing them — towards mastery. I think it’s unfair to say that just because you come from a community that is poor, or because your families work really hard and can’t afford to have this extra luxury in their house of a computer or internet, that you don’t have access to the things that will help you succeed later in life. I think it’s a responsibility of us as educators and as a community to provide all of our students with the best footing and access to the things that they need in order to better their lives and, ultimately, better their quality of life and opportunities. Having access to these computers not only gives us the opportunity to give more students a way to engage in school, but it also allows us to give them the things that other students have access to, to hopefully start to level this huge gap that exists between those that have, and those that don’t.”
BACK TO TOP
Chilhowee Middle School
& Copper Basin High School
Polk County, TN