What was a gap is now a chasm: Remote schooling, the digital divide, and educational inequities resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic

Alexandrea R Golden; Emily N Srisarajivakul; Amanda J Hasselle; Rory A Pfund; Jerica Knox

doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2023.101632

What was a gap is now a chasm: Remote schooling, the digital divide, and educational inequities resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic

Curr Opin Psychol. 2023 Aug:52:101632. doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2023.101632. Epub 2023 Jun 12.

Authors

Alexandrea R Golden¹, Emily N Srisarajivakul², Amanda J Hasselle³, Rory A Pfund², Jerica Knox⁴

Affiliations

¹ 400 Fogelman Drive, Memphis, TN, 38152, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, TN, USA. Electronic address: agolden6@memphis.edu.
² Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, TN, USA.
³ Department of Psychology, Rhodes College, TN, USA.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland, USA.

Abstract

COVID-19 resulted in the unexpected transition to remote learning for K-12 schools, exacerbating the existing digital divide and impacting the educational outcomes of marginalized youth. This article reviews the literature on the impacts of the pandemic on the educational outcomes of marginalized youth due to remote learning and the digital divide. Here, we provide an overview of the pandemic and remote schooling from an intersectional lens, discuss the impacts of the digital divide on learning for students during the pandemic, and then consider impacts on the delivery of special education supports. Additionally, we review the literature on the widening achievement gap in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. Future directions for research and practice are discussed.

Keywords: Achievement gap; Intersectional identities; Marginalized youth; Systemic inequity.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Adolescent
COVID-19*
Digital Divide*
Educational Status
Humans
Learning
Pandemics