Relationship among Community Location, Home Internet Access Level, and High School

Abstract

Digital equity has become a central concern in K-12 education as instructional practices increasingly rely on high-quality internet connectivity beyond the school environment. While many school systems have addressed device availability through one-to-one initiatives, less is known about how variations in the quality of home internet connectivity relate to student academic outcomes. This quantitative, comparative study examined the relationships among community vulnerability, home internet quality, and academic performance among high school students in one Virginia school division. Using district administrative records and digital equity monitoring data spanning two academic years, students were categorized as English Language Learners (ELL), Economically Disadvantaged (ED), or non-ELL/non-ED/non-SPED. Home internet connectivity was operationalized using cumulative performance ratings (e.g., low, medium, and high), while academic outcomes included cumulative grade point average (GPA) and the advanced coursework completed. Community context was measured using a Community Vulnerability Index derived from census-based socioeconomic indicators. Descriptive statistics and one-way and two-way analyses of variance (ANOVA) were employed to examin group differences and interaction effects by connectivity level and grade. Results indicated significant disparities in connectivity quality across student groups and vulnerability levels, with English Language Learners experiencing the most severe connectivity disadvantages. Connectivity quality was a statistically significant predictor of GPA and advanced coursework participation for students outside ELL and ED classifications, demonstrating moderate to strong practical significance. In contrast, for ELL and ED students, GPA outcomes were largely explained by grade level rather than internet connectivity, and associations with advanced coursework participation were modest. Overall, findings suggest that while high-quality internet connectivity functions as an academic advantage for students with fewer systemic barriers, connectivity alone does not uniformly mitigate academic disparities for linguistically and economically marginalized students. These results underscore that digital equity requires attention to connectivity quality alongside structural, instructional, and policy factors to ensure equitable educational opportunity.