The majority of students learning remotely during the past year experienced disruptions in their education due to being "under-connected," with Black, Latinx, and low-income children disproportionately impacted, a report from Rutgers University New Brunswick and New America finds.

Based on a survey conducted in March and April of 2021 of parents of children ages 3 to 13 with household incomes below the national median of $75,000, the report, Learning at Home While Under-connected, found that one in seven children did not have broadband Internet access at home, and even among those with computers and broadband access, a majority had insufficient and unreliable access to the Internet and devices. More than half (53 percent) of students learning remotely reported a disruption in their education, including being unable to participate in class or complete their schoolwork due to a lack of Internet access (34 percent) or a computer (21 percent) and having to attend school or do their schoolwork on a smartphone (32 percent).

Funded by Noggin, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Overdeck Family, Grable, and Silicon Valley Community foundations, the report found that low-income households and families of color were most likely to face disruptions in remote learning, including 65 percent of respondents with incomes below the federal poverty level, 48 percent of those with incomes between the poverty level and $75,000, and 56 percent of Black and 66 percent of Latinx respondents. According to the report, the share of lower-income families who are under-connected hardly changed between 2015 and 2021 — despite large increases in rates of home broadband and computer access.

At the same time, the report also found that a majority of parents in the survey reported gaining new insights into what their children were learning in school (62 percent) and their strengths and weaknesses as learners (66 percent), while 43 percent of respondents said they were more comfortable communicating with their children's teachers now. And 44 percent said they felt more confident about helping their child with their schoolwork, including 56 percent of parents with incomes below the federal poverty level, 39 percent of those with incomes between the poverty level and $75,000, and 57 percent of Black, 52 percent of Latinx, and 32 percent of white parents.

To address the digital inequality highlighted during the pandemic, the report's authors call on policy makers to prioritize the "under-connected," on educators to continue their partnership with parents and prioritize children's social and emotional learning, and on schools and community-based organizations to support literacy efforts via their websites and partnerships with public libraries that provide e-book lending programs.