NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS

ISSUE

BRIEF

U.S. Department of Education

Office of Educational Research and Improvement NCES 1999–017

February 1999

Internet Access in Public Schools and Classrooms: 1994–98

What sort of progress is being made in connecting every public school

and classroom to the Information Superhighway? Since 1994, the federal

government has been committed to assisting every school and classroom

to connect to the Internet by the year 2000, and the National Center for

Education Statistics (NCES) has been tracking the rate at which public

schools and classrooms are meeting that goal. In 1994, NCES began

surveying approximately 1,000 public schools each year about their access to the Internet, access in classrooms, and, since 1996, their type of

Internet connections. NCES measured Internet access in private schools

in 1995 and is currently gathering data for 1998–99 (publication forthcoming).

How much progress have schools made?

Public schools in the United States have continued to make progress toward meeting the goal of connecting every school to the Internet by the

year 2000. Indeed, schools have shown increases every year since 1994,

when 35 percent of public schools were connected to the Internet (table

1). In the fall of 1998, 89 percent of public schools were connected to the

Internet. This is an increase of 11 percentage points from the 78 percent

reported in 1997.

In 1997, schools with different characteristics had different rates of Internet

access; for example, high poverty schools, schools with high minority

enrollment, and smaller schools were less likely to have Internet access

than other schools. By 1998, most of these differences no longer existed.

High poverty and small schools were as likely to have access to the Internet

as low poverty and larger schools. However, schools with 11 to 30 percent

and 31 to 70 percent of students in poverty were slightly more likely to

have Internet access than the high poverty schools.

What proportion of classrooms are connected?

While having Internet access in 89 percent of public schools is an achievement, this number does not tell us about the degree to which students have

access to the Internet. Thus, in addition to having every school connected

to the Internet by the year 2000, a second goal is to have every instructional room (e.g., every classroom, computer lab, and library/media center) connected to the Internet. Schools have made strides toward this

goal, with 51 percent of instructional rooms in public schools connected

to the Internet in 1998. This number has nearly doubled since 1997, when

27 percent of instructional rooms were connected (table 1). The rate at

which classrooms are connected may continue to grow because of the

funds available starting in 1998 through the E-rate (Education rate) program. This program was established by the Telecommunications Act of

1996 to help make telecommunications services and technologies available to schools and libraries at discounted rates.

There continue to be differences in instructional room access to the Internet

related to school characteristics. In 1998, public schools with 50 percent

or more minority enrollment had Internet access in 37 percent of instructional rooms, compared to 52, 59, and 57 percent in schools with 21 to 49

School characteristic 1994 1997 1998 1994 1997 1998

 All public schools 35 78 89 3 27 51

Instructional level*

 Elementary 30 75 88 3 24 51

 Secondary 49 89 94 4 32 52

Size of enrollment

 Less than 300 30 75 87 3 27 54

 300 to 999 35 78 89 3 28 53

 1,000 or more 58 89 95 3 25 45

Metropolitan status

 City 40 74 92 4 20 47

 Urban fringe 38 78 85 4 29 50

 Town 29 84 90 3 34 55

 Rural 35 79 92 3 30 57

Geographic region

 Northeast 34 78 90 3 22 39

 Southeast 29 84 92 2 26 51

 Central 34 79 90 3 33 61

 West 42 73 86 5 27 51

Percent minority enrollment

 Less than 6 percent 38 84 91 6 37 57

 6 to 20 percent 38 87 93 4 35 59

 21 to 49 percent 38 73 91 4 22 52

 50 percent or more 27 63 82 3 13 37

Percent of students eligible for free or

reduced-price school lunch

 Less than 11 percent 40 88 87 4 36 62

 11 to 30 percent 39 83 94 4 32 53

 31 to 70 percent 33 78 91 3 27 52

 71 percent or more 19 63 80 2 14 39

Schools Instructional rooms

Table 1.—Percent of public schools having access to the Internet,

and percent of instructional rooms having access to the

Internet, by school characteristics: 1994, 1997, and 1998

*Data for combined schools 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, Fast

Response Survey System, “Advanced Telecommunications in 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. Elementary and Secondary

Public Schools, Fall 1996,” NCES 97-944; “Internet Access in Public Schools,” NCES 98-

031; and data from the “Survey on Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools, Fall 1998,” FRSS

69, 1998.

percent, 6 to 20 percent, and less than 6 percent minority enrollment,

respectively. Similarly, public schools with 71 percent or more students

eligible for free or reduced-price school lunch had 39 percent of their

instructional rooms connected to the Internet compared to 53 percent of

rooms in schools with 11 to 30 percent of students eligible, and 62 percent

of rooms in schools with less than 11 percent of students eligible. Additionally, schools in the Northeast had a lower proportion of rooms connected to the Internet than schools in the Southeast, Central, and West

regions (39 percent compared to 51, 61, and 51 percent, respectively).

Another measure of the pervasiveness of computers in public schools is

the ratio of students to computers. According to the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (1997), a ratio of 4 to 5 students per computer represents a reasonable level for the effective use of
Issue Briefs present information on education topics of current interest. All estimates shown are based on samples and are subject to sampling variability. All differences are statistically significant at the 0.05 percent level.

In the design, conduct, and data processing of NCES surveys, efforts are made to minimize the effects of nonsampling errors, such as item nonresponse, measurement error, data processing error, or other systematic error.

The data reported in this Issue Brief have been combined from 3 separate independent surveys—1994, 1995, and 1996. There is a potential for a small amount of bias associated with the absence of schools built between

the administration of each of the three surveys and 1998.

This Issue Brief was prepared by Cassandra Rowand. To obtain standard errors or definitions of terms for this Issue Brief, or to obtain additional information about the Fast Response Survey System or the FRSS

telecommunications surveys, contact Edie McArthur at NCES 202-219-1442. To order additional copies of this Issue Brief or other NCES publications, call 1-877-4ED-PUBS. NCES publications are available on the Internet

at http://www.ed.gov/NCES/pubs.

computers within schools. Data from 1998 show approximately 6 students per instructional computer in public schools (figure 1). Mediumsized schools, i.e., those with 300–999 students, and large schools, those

with 1,000 or more students, had less access to instructional computers

than small schools, those with less than 300 students (6 and 7 students per

instructional computer compared to 4). Schools located in cities had more

students per instructional computer (7) than schools in the urban fringe

and towns (6 students per instructional computer for both), and rural areas (5 students per instructional computer).

The ratios of students per instructional computer with Internet access also

varied in similar ways (figure 1). Medium-sized and large schools had

more students per computer with Internet access than small schools, that

is, 12 and 13 students per Internet-connected computer compared to 9.

Schools located in cities and urban fringe areas had more students per

computer with Internet access (14 and 12, respectively), than schools in

rural areas (9). Public schools with 71 percent or more students eligible

for free or reduced-price school lunch had less access to computers with

Internet access on a per-student basis than schools with less than 11 percent, and those with 11 to 30 percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price school lunch. Schools with 50 percent or more minority enrollment also had less access than schools with less than 6 percent, 6 to 20

percent, and 21 to 49 percent minority enrollments.

How are schools connecting to the Internet?

One of the major determinants of the extent to which schools are able to

make use of the Internet is the speed at which they are able to connect.

Changes have occurred over the past two years regarding the type of network connections used by public schools and, therefore, the speed at which

they are able to connect. In 1996, 74 percent of public schools with Internet

access were connecting using dial-up connections; in 1997, 50 percent of

schools were using this type of connection; and in 1998, 22 percent (figure 2). In 1998, higher speed connections using a dedicated line were

used by 65 percent of public schools. This is a continued increase from

1996, when 39 percent of schools were connecting using a dedicated line,

and 1997, when 45 percent were so connected. Large schools with Internet

access were more likely to connect using a dedicated line than small and

medium-sized schools (79 percent compared to 63 and 64 percent, respectively; data not shown). On the other hand, schools in the Northeast

were more likely to connect using a dial-up connection than schools in the

Central and West regions (34 percent compared to 20 and 17 percent,

respectively; data not shown).

Figure 1.—Ratio of students per instructional computer and

students per instructional computer with Internet access,

by school characteristics: Fall 1998

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast

Response Survey System, “Internet Access in Public Schools,” NCES 98-031; and “Survey

on Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools, Fall 1998,” FRSS 69, 1998.

Figure 2.—Percent of public schools with Internet access, by type of

network connection: Fall 1996–98

0

20

40

60

80

100

1998

1997

1996

Dedicated line Dial-up connection

Percent

Type of network connection

39

45

65

74

50

22

NOTE: Data were also collected for ISDN, cable modem, and wireless connections.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast

Response Survey System, “Advanced Telecommunications in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, 1996,” NCES 97-944; “Internet Access in Public Schools,” NCES 98-031;

and data from the “Survey on Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools, Fall 1998,” FRSS 69,

1998.

Conclusion

Differences among public schools with Internet access have decreased in

1998, however, schools with the highest proportion of minority enrollments and schools with the highest proportion of students eligible for free

or reduced-price school lunch continue to have fewer instructional rooms

with Internet access. And, while the ratio of students per instructional

computer is approaching the ratio recommended by the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology, the ratio of students to

computer with Internet access is nearly double the recommended student

to computer ratio. Public schools have shown a commitment toward securing more efficient means of connecting to the Internet; more schools

are connecting to the Internet using dedicated lines than in previous years.

Reference

President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology, Panel on Educational Technology. (1997). Report to the President on the Use of Technology to

Strengthen K–12 Education in the United States. Available online: http://

www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/OSTP/NSTC/PCAST/K-12ed.html#exec.

More information about the E-rate program is available online: http://

www.sicfund.org.

Size of enrollment

Metropolitan status

Percent

minority enrollment

Students eligible for free or

reduced-price lunch

Students per instructional computer

Students per instructional computer with Internet

10 5 0 5 10 15 20

71 percent or more

3170 percent

1130 percent

Less than 11 percent

50 percent or more

2049

620 percent

Less than 6 percent

Rural

Town

Urban fringe

City

1,000 or more

300999

Less than 300

Total

6

6

6

6

6

7

6

6

5

6

6

7

7

6

4

6 12

9

12

13

14

12

12

9

10

10

12

17

10

11

12

17