The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), in partnership with the Texas Association of School Administrators and CoSN’s Texas state affiliate chapter, The Texas K-12 CTO Council, is honored to support the work of current and aspiring superintendents and district leadership teams in leading all aspects of digital learning transformations.

The EmpowerED Superintendent edWebinar Series – Monday, July 12, 2021, 4 p.m. CT

“Innovative Technology Solutions to Address Digital Equity: Award-Winning Collaborative Leadership Strategies”

The next episode of the monthly EmpowerED Superintendent Webinar series, co-hosted by CoSN, AASA, and edWeb.net, and sponsored by ClassLink, airs on Monday, July 12, 2021, at 4 p.m. Central Time. The July webinar is titled “Innovative Technology Solutions to Address Digital Equity: Award-Winning Collaborative Leadership Strategies.” Student access to robust digital tools is key to their success as 21st-century citizens. Yet many students have limited access to these tools both at school and at home. Closing this gap entails a broad approach that requires that schools and communities work together. CoSN created the Community Leadership Award for Digital Equity to encourage and recognize those districts that are working to eliminate inequities and narrow the access gap. The winning district team is selected based on its efforts to build community awareness and actions taken to narrow the homework gap and other issues related to digital equity.

The superintendents and district technology leaders from each of the school districts awarded CoSN’s Community Leadership Award for Digital Equity in 2021 (Desert Sands USD, CA) and in 2020 (Santa Fe Public Schools, NM) are the featured guests in the July 12 edWebinar broadcast. Join the conversation with Superintendent Scott Bailey and Dr. Kelly May-Volmer, Assistant Superintendent, Education Services, from Desert Sands USD, CA, along with Dr. Veronica C. Garcia, Superintendent, and Dr. Tom Ryan, Former Chief Information and Strategy Officer, from Santa Fe Public Schools, NM, as they share the strategies they use to build community awareness and the actions they have taken to address a wide variety of issues related to digital equity. Tools and resources from CoSN’s Digital Equity Initiative will be presented. Additionally, the latest information from CoSN’s Student Home Internet Connectivity Study will be reviewed.

Free registration for the July 12, 2021, webinar is now available at: https://home.edweb.net/webinar/supers20210712/
Webinars in this series are also freely available as recordings at https://home.edweb.net/supers/ and via podcast at https://home.edweb.net/podcasts/ a day or two after the initial live broadcast.

CoSN Resources

CoSN Digital Equity Toolkit

CoSN’s Digital Equity Toolkit spotlights ways in which schools and districts have successfully addressed digital equity challenges and identifies community engagement opportunities around digital access and inclusion. The toolkit discusses five strategies schools and districts can implement to address the “homework gap” and four steps school leaders can take to collaborate with local governments and other community leaders. You can read the executive summary and access the link to download the complete Digital Equity Toolkit at: https://cosn.org/DEtoolkit

CoSN Student Home Internet Connectivity Study

CoSN recently released the preliminary findings of a breakthrough study on students’ at-home internet connectivity that provides guidelines on bandwidth, devices, and other remote learning needs based on the data. The study was supported by a grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI). The findings serve as a guide for school district leaders who are working to improve online learning equity. Key findings from the Student Home Connectivity Study as well as a link to access the full report are available at: https://cosn.org/digitalequity

CoSN Membership & Texas K-12 CTO Council

If your school or district would like more information about joining CoSN or getting more involved with CoSN and/or Texas K-12 CTO Council, please contact Dr. Alice Owen, Executive Director, Texas K-12 CTO Council at exdir@texask12ctocouncil.org or call 855.458.9286.