A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

FOR RELEASE
February 16, 2000

Contact:
David Thomas
(202) 401-1579

CLASSROOM CONNECTION TO INTERNET CONTINUES APACE

Virtually all public schools are now connected to the Internet and classroom hook-ups have increased 20-fold since 1994.

According to Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools and Classrooms: 1994-1999, released today by the U.S. Education Department's National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), the percentage of public schools connected to the Internet has increased each year. Internet access in schools increased from 35 to 95 percent and classroom connections increased from three to 63 percent from 1994-99.

During the same period, public schools also upgraded their network connections and the speed at which they are able to connect. By 1999, schools were six times as likely to use faster dedicated-line networks (63 percent) or other high speed technologies (23 percent), than simply dial-up connections (14 percent).

In addition, the ratio of students per instructional computer with Internet access decreased from 12 to nine from 1998 to 1999, although differences remain across schools with different characteristics. For example, medium-sized and large schools had more students per computer with Internet access than small schools, nine and 10 students compared to six students. And schools in cities had more students per computer with Internet access (11) than schools in rural areas (7). Schools with the highest concentration of poverty had 16 students per instructional computer with Internet access, compared to seven among schools with the lowest concentration.

"We need to continue our efforts to ensure that all schools and students have equal access to the vast network of information on the Internet," Riley said. "Because technology can improve student performance and provide the competitive skills necessary for future success, it is critical that we provide a link for those in the smallest towns to the largest cities."

Other survey findings include:

• While 74 percent of classrooms in low-poverty schools are connected to the Internet, only 39 percent of classrooms in high-poverty schools have Internet access; and,

• Forty-eight percent of schools with the highest concentration of poverty indicate that state and federal government programs were their primary source of support, compared to 14 percent of schools with the lowest concentrations of poverty.

The NCES survey was sent to a nationally representative sample of about 1,000 public elementary and secondary schools in the fall of 1999. The two-page survey is accessible at the Internet address: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2000086.

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