School technology: Tacoma survey inherently biased

Does anyone else see the irony in the recent Tacoma Public Schools survey asking families to fill out an online form about their access to technology?

I know TPS is up against a rock trying to figure out how to get online access to all their students during the coronavirus shutdown, but any results from an electronic survey asking about computer and internet access will be automatically biased.

Add to that the short window for completing the survey (April 8-12), and that despite the language options the survey invariable shows up in English, and it’s fair to ask: How many families will be left out of this survey?

How will those (biased) results inform practice and policy? In what way is this authentically helpful when those who lack access can’t respond to the question about access?

This story was originally published April 14, 2020 at 12:40 PM with the headline "School technology: Tacoma survey inherently biased."