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Deeper into the Divide: A Review of Digital

Divisions by Matthew Rafalow

By Judith R. Merz

This article continues a series initiated by members of the Bulletin’s editorial board. The goal
of the series is to provide insight on a topic or work related to the theme of the issue. Here,
editorial board member and editor Merz provides a review of a book that takes a fresh look at
the digital divide in education.

Rafalow, Matthew H. (2020). Digital Divisions: How Schools Create Inequality in
the Tech Era. University of Chicago Press. 224 pages. ISBN: 978-0-226-
72655-7

s the COVID-19 pandemic brought lockdowns, quarantines, and closures,
Aorganizations and individuals turned to digital resources in order to preserve
their operations. This shift to an “online life” required access to internet and digital
technologies—so much so that a study by the Pew Research Center reported that
90% of Americans believed use of the internet was essential during the pandemic
(McClain et al., 2022). Not surprisingly, this shift also brought renewed attention
to the concept of a “digital divide”—the “gap between those who have access to
technology, the internet, and digital literacy training and those who do not” (North
Carolina Department of Information Technology [NCDIT], 2022). In the realm of
education, as institutions moved rapidly to virtual classrooms at all levels, the long-
standing divide between students who had ready access to technology and those
who did not was both exacerbated and highlighted. Prior to the pandemic, teachers’
assignment of technology-based homework had put students without easy access
at a disadvantage; as all components of schooling went virtual, that disadvantage
become a pure obstacle. Gao and Hayes (2021) noted,
The pandemic highlighted long-standing digital gaps that have affected
African American, Latino, and low-income students. In 2019, 13% of K–12
students and college students did not have broadband at home. College
students in rural (22%), low-income (21%), and Latino (16%) households
were particularly likely to lack home broadband. Almost 10% of K–12
teachers lacked access to home broadband. At the onset of the pandemic,
only 67% of K–12 students had reliable access to computing devices; access
levels were particularly low among low-income (52%), Black (58%), and
Latino (61%) students.
In Digital Divisions: How Schools Create Inequality in the Tech Era (2020), Dr.
Matthew H. Rafalow offers insight into a deeper divide that should be of concern
to educators. His book is a richly developed ethnographic study conducted at three
diverse middle schools in Southern California in the 2013–2014 school year. Data
collection included 67 interviews with teachers, administrators, and staff, with 600
hours in the field split evenly among the schools. Approximately 80% of the teacher
population of each school participated, as did a sample of 40 students. Rafalow
observed classes, attended faculty meetings and workshops, and participated in
parent-teacher and after-school events as part of his ethnographic deep dive into the
lives and cultures of the three schools.

Schools Fostering a More Equitable World 35