Statistics:

• In 2003, the ratio of students to computers in all public schools was 4.4 to 1.
• 48 states included technology standards for students in 2004-2005.
• In 2003, 8 percent of public schools lent laptop computers to students. In those schools, the median number of laptop computers available for loan was 5.
• Schools in rural areas (12 percent) were more likely than city schools (5 percent) and urban fringe schools (7 percent) to lend laptops.
• In 2003, 10 percent of public schools provided a handheld computer to students or teachers.
• 16 states had at least one cyber charter school operating in 2004-2005.
• 22 states had established virtual schools in 2004-2005.
• 56 percent of 2- and 4-year degree-granting institutions offer distance education courses, with 90 percent of public institutions offering distance education courses.
• The gender divide in computer use has been essentially eliminated, as there is no overall difference between boys and girls in overall use of computers. Girls however are slightly more likely than boys to use home computers for e-mail, word processing and completing school assignments than playing games.

Distance Learning

• 36% of school districts and 9% of all public schools have students enrolled in distance education courses.
• There were an estimated 328,000 enrollments in distance education courses by K12 students during the 2001-2002 school year.
• 68% of the enrollments were in high school with an additional 29% in combined or ungraded schools.
• 45,300 enrollments in distance education were Advanced Placement or college-level courses.
• A greater proportion of rural area districts had students enrolled in distance education courses than did urban and suburban districts.
• 42% of districts that have students enrolled in distance education courses are high poverty districts.
• When small districts offer distance learning, they are more likely to involve a greater proportion of schools.
• 80% of public school districts offering online courses said that offering courses not available at their schools is one of the most important reasons for having distance education.
• 50% of public school districts offering online courses cited distance learning as very important in making Advanced Placement or college-level courses available to all students.
• 92% of districts enrolled in online distance education courses had students access online courses from school.
• 24% of districts with students accessing online courses from home provided or paid for a computer for all students, while an additional 8% did so for some students.

National Education Technology Plan

• No Child Left Behind requires the Secretary to update and publish a national long-range technology plan, based on an assessment of the continuing and future needs of the nation's schools in effectively using technology to provide all students the opportunity to meet challenging state academic standards. The plan highlights 7 action steps that states, districts and schools can take to evaluate their use of technology to improve student achievement.
• The plan was released in January 2005.
• To access the plan, please visit http://www.nationaledtechplan.org/

Technology Literacy

• No Child Left Behind requires that every student should be technology literate by the time they finish the 8th grade.
• To support this requirement, the Department provided assistance to the 21st Century Skills Forum, a public-private partnership among government, business and education.
  • The Forum created a framework to define technological literacy and 21st century skills; identify best practices for applying these skills in the classroom; provide assistance to states and schools to see how these skills and basic skills can be taught in complementary ways; design a self-assessment tool on technological literacy and 21st century skills; create tools to define, teach, and assess 21st century skills.
  • http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/

Measuring Technology's Impact

• No Child Left Behind provides $15 million for a five year research study to identify the conditions necessary for technology to improve student achievement utilizing scientifically based research methods.

Using Technology to Enable Accountability Systems

• State agencies and school districts are required to develop robust accountability systems using data warehousing and business intelligence tools. The goal is to equip policy makers and school leaders with the tools needed to analyze real time student performance metrics along with other demographic, achievement and budgetary indicators.
• States are encouraged to use online assessment systems so results can be delivered to students and teacher instantaneously instead of the weeks traditional assessments take.

Friendship Through Education

• Using the Internet to connect students in the U.S. and Arab nations to develop mutual understandings of one another's cultures. http://www.friendshipthrougheducation.org/

Digital Divide

• No Child Left Behind is focused on a divide that parallels the digital divide-the achievement gap. When schools use technology to close the achievement gap, they also bridge the digital divide.

For more information, visit:

• http://www.ed.gov/Technology
• http://www.nclb.gov/
• Contact Susan Patrick, Director, Office of Educational Technology, Susan.Patrick@ed.gov