NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS DOC, EDI,322/2: SCH6/4 March 1998 BOOKSTACKS •vi th Uwivt Can students in our schools reach the Library of Congress with their research questions, track the Iditarod race, follow expeditions in the rain forest, and exchange e:mail with pen pals around the world? To ensure the essential connections for such exciting activities, President Clinton’s Technology Literacy Challenge calls for an effort to connect all U.S. public schools and every instructional room, that is, classroom, computer lab, and library/media center, to the Internet. In order to measure Internet access in the schools, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) surveyed a nationally representative sample of public schools in 1994. Subsequent surveys in 1995,1996, and 1997 have enabled NCES to track growth in this rapidly changing area. How much progress have schools made? The effort to connect all of the nation’s public schools to the Information Superhighway is moving swiftly. In just 3 years, the percentage of U.S. public schools with Internet access increased from 35 percent in fall 1994 to 78 percent in fall 1997 (table 1). On the whole, schools are on track toward achieving the goal of connecting all of the nation’s public schools to the Internet. Table 1.—Percentage of public schools having access to the Internet in fall 1994,1995,1996, and 1997, by school characteristics Internet Access in Public Schools Public schools having access to the Internet School characteristics 1994 1995 1996 1997 All public schools 35 50 65 78 Instructional level* Elementary 30 46 61 75 Secondary 49 65 77 89 Size of enrollment Less than 300 30 39 57 75 300 to 999 35 52 66 78 1.000 or more 58 69 80 89 Metropolitan status City 40 47 64 74 Urban fringe 38 59 75 78 Town 29 47 61 84 Rural 35 48 60 79 Geographic region Northeast 34 59 70 78 Southeast 29 44 62 84 Central 34 52 66 79 West 42 48 62 73 Minority enrollment Less than 6 percent — 52 65 84 6 to 20 percent — 58 72 87 21 to 49 percent — 54 65 73 50 percent or more — 40 56 63 Students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch Less than 11 percent — 62 78 88 11 to 30 percent ' — 59 72 83 31 to 70 percent — 47 58 78 71 percent or more - 31 53 63 —Data not available. *Data for combined schools (those that span elementary and secondary grades) are included in the totals and in analyses by other school characteristics but are not shown separately. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “Advanced Telecommunications in U.S. Public Schools, K-12," NCES 95-731; “Advanced Telecommunications in U.S. Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, 1995,’ NCES 96-854; “Advanced Telecommunications in U.S. Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, Fall 1996;” NCES 97-944; and data from the “Survey on Advanced Telecommunications in U.S. Public Schools, Fall 1997,” FRSS 64,1997. Despite this progress however, certain gaps persist in establishing Internet links in U.S. public schools. In 1997, schools with 50 percent or more minority students enrolled lagged behind schools with 20 percent or fewer minority students, as did smaller schools (those with fewer than 1,000 students), which are more likely to be elementary than secondary schools. Also lagging in Internet capabilities were schools with 71 percent or more poor students (that is, students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), with 63 percent having access; however, schools with 31 to 70 percent poor students have recently made considerable gains in Internet access, moving from 58 percent in 1996 to 78 percent in 1997. From 1996 to 1997, Internet access increased in the Southeast and Central regions, where Internet access rose from 62 percent to 84 percent and 66 percent to 79 percent, respectively (table 1). What is the availability of Internet access in instructional rooms? Although the goal of connecting all U.S. public schools to the Internet now appears to be within reach, making the Internet accessible to all students in all instructional rooms will require much more effort Over the last year, the percentage of schools with Internet access which had such access in five or more instructional rooms increased from 25 percent in 1996 to 43 percent in 1997 (table 2). Another way of looking at instructional rooms with access is to look at all such rooms across all public schools. Since 1994, the percentage of instructional rooms which were connected to the Internet increased from 3 percent to 8 percent in 1995, 14 percent in 1996, and 27 percent in 1997. However, in 1997 in the 2 percent of schools which reported no connections in ^ instructional rooms, students would have little or no contact with the Internet Further, even in instructional rooms with Internet access, students who spend time in those rooms may not actually use that access. Table 2.—Distribution of schools by the number of instructional rooms with Internet access, among all public schools with access: Fall 1996 and 1997 Percentage of public schools Extent of Internet access Fall 1996 Fall 1997 No instructional rooms 5 2 1 Instructional room 43 31 Z 3. or 4 instructional rooms 26 23 5 or more Instructional rooms 25 43 NOTE: Percentages may not add to 100 percent due to rounding. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, ‘Advanced Telecommunications in U.S Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, Fall 1996,’ NCES 97-944; and data from the “Survey on Advanced Telecommunications in U.S. Public Schools, Fall 1997,’ FRSS 64,1997. What is the outlook for achieving Internet access by 2000? Administrators from schools of all types in all regions of the country reported moving to secure the new technologies. Data from 19% indicated that 87 percent of schools that lacked Internet capabilities reported planning to obtain Internet access by 2000; thus if these schools are able to acquire access, 95 percent of all schools would have Internet access in 2000* (table 3). If these expectations are realized, then 93 percent of schools with 71 percent or more poor students would have Internet access by 2000; and in schools where more than half the students are minorities, 91 percent would have Internet access. Over the next 3 years, Internet access in schools and within instructional rooms is likely to continue to increase, as it has in each year between 1994 and 1997. 1 The 95 percent is calculated by adding the 87 percent of the 35 percent of schools which lacked access in 1996 to the 65 percent of schools which had access in 1996. U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Improvement LIBRARY U. OF I. URBANA-CHAMPAIGNt>DC, Et> /. Z22/*: SC5- > u -Year-to-year increases in Internet access, from fall 1994 to 1997; percentage of public schools expecting to have Internet access by 2000; difference between 1996 expectations for 2000 and 1996 level of access; and percentage of this difference achieved by 1997, by school characteristics Percentage of schools m 1996 Measuring progiass having or toward 1996 Percentage point expecting expectations for 2000 annual change to have Percent of 1994 1995 1996 Internet Total Increase to to to access required achieved School characteristics 1995 1996 1997 by 2000' Increase2 bv 19973 Al pubic ichook 15 15 13 95 30 43 Instructional level4 Elementary 16 15 14 94 33 42 Secondary 16 12 12 98 21 57 Size of enrollment Less than 300 9 18 18 93 36 50 300 to 999 17 14 12 96 30 40 1,000 or more 11 11 9 97 17 53 Metropolian status City 7 17 10 94 30 33 Urban fringe 21 16 3 97 22 14 Town 18 14 23 95 34 68 Rural 13 12 19 95 35 54 Geographic region Northeast 25 11 8 98 28 29 Southeast 15 18 22 96 34 65 Central 18 14 13 92 26 50 West 8 14 11 96 34 32 Minority enrollment Less than 6 percent — 13 19 95 30 63 6 to 20 percent — 14 15 97 25 60 21 to 49 percent — 11 8 98 33 24 50 percent or more — 16 7 91 35 20 Students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch Less than 11 percent — 16 10 97 19 53 11 to 30 percent — 13 11 98 26 42 31 to 70 percent — 11 20 93 35 57 71 percent or more — 22 10 93 40 25 —Data not available. ’ Estimates are derived from the percentage of schools that in fall996 reported having Internet access in 1996 or planning to obtain Internet access by 2000. 2 Calculated by subtracting 1996 actual percentage (column 3 in table 1) from 1996 expectations for access in 2000 (column 4 in this table). 3 Calculated by dividing the actual increase in access between 1996 and 1997 (column 3 in this table) by the increase needed between 1996 and 2000 to meet 2000 expectations (column 5 in this table). 4 Data for combined schools (those that span elementary and secondary grades) are included in the totals and in analyses by other school characteristics but are not shown separately. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “Advanced Telecommunications in U.S. Public Schools, K-12,’ NCES 95-731; ‘Advanced Telecommunications in U.S. Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, 1995,’ NCES 96-854; ‘Advanced Telecommunications in U.S. Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, Fall 1996," NCES 97-944; and data from the “Survey on Advanced Telecommunications in U.S. Public Schools, Fall 1997,’ FRSS 64,1997. Over the last year, progress has been substantial toward meeting the expectations for Internet access in 2000 that schools reported in 19%. Overall, 43 percent of the difference between actual levels of access in 19% and the expectations for access in 2000 has been eliminated (table 3, column 6). Furthermore, this level of progress (40 percent or more of the distance to the goal being achieved) has been accomplished in many different types of schools. What educational and community groups are supporting telecommunications in the schools? A key finding from the 19% survey is that parents, community members, local businesses, and not-for-profit groups provide assistance to schools in acquiring Internet access and other advanced telecommunications services (table 4). Ten percent of schools reported that businesses provided funding for these programs; 18 percent of schools reported that parents and other community members provided funding, and 6 percent reported that community organizations such as libraries or museums provided funding. Still, the most likely source of support was the school districts themselves, and the second most frequent source was state or federal government agencies. Table 4.—Percentage of public schools indicating that various organizations or individuals are supporting advanced telecommunications in their school: Fall 1996 Percentage Percentage of public of public schools schools receiving receiving Organizations/Individuals hardware funding School district 76 83 State or federal government agencies 18 38 Parents or other community members 13 18 Business or industry 13 10 College or university 2 1 Teachers 6 6 Other community nonprofit organizations 4 6 Students 1 1 Other 1 1 SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, ‘Advanced Telecommunications in U.S. Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, Fall 1996,* NCES 97-944. As schools obtain Internet access, what challenges remain for educators? The increased availability of Internet opportunities will enable teachers and administrators to employ the technology in many different ways, including record keeping, communicating with parents, distance learning, professional development, curriculum development, and as a classroom teaching tool. To realize such uses of telecommunications, educators face a variety of challenges in addition to acquiring linkages. Such challenges include providing technical support for networks, hardware, and software; ensuring teachers and administrators have the time for and access to staff development for technology integration; increasing the effective use of the Internet to enhance student learning; and protecting students from inappropriate material on the Internet. As schools install additional Internet linkages, administrators will also be working to obtain connections that are faster, have wider bandwidth, and are more reliable than traditional modems. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 3 0112 004772429 UNIVERciT\ Or ‘LLo'OiS Issue Briefs present information on education topics of current interest. AH estimates shown are based on samples and are subject to sampling variability. All differences are statistically significant at the .05 level. This Issue Brief was prepared by John Bare, Knight Foundation, and Anne Meek, Education Statistics Services Institute. For information, contact Edith McArthur, National Center for Education Statistics, (202) 219-1442 or Edith_McArthur@ed.gov. To order additional copies of this Issue Brief or other NCES publications, call 1-800-424-1616. NCES publications are also available on the Internet at http://www.NCES.ed.gov/. NCES 98-031