• How Prevalent Are Computers in Private Schools?
• How Prevalent Is Internet Access in Private Schools and Classrooms?
• Do Private Schools Not Connected to the Internet Have Plans to Do So in the Future?
• What Advanced Telecommunications Training for Teachers Do Private Schools Offer or Participate in?
• Additional Information
• References

To track changes in the availability of and access to technology, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) since 1994 has conducted a series of surveys of public and private elementary and secondary schools. This Stats in Brief provides results from the most recent survey of technology in private schools, focusing on trends in the availability of and access to technology from 1995 to 1998.¹ In addition, this Stats in Brief reports on the future connectivity plans of private schools not connected to the Internet and on the advanced telecommunications training opportunities private schools offer their teachers.

The number of students per computer is the measure commonly used to provide an indication of the prevalence of computers in schools. In 1998, there was an average of six students per computer in private schools, down from nine students per computer in private schools in 1995 (table 1). In 1995 and in 1998, nonsectarian schools reported fewer students per computer on average than did Catholic schools and other religious schools, and the student-to-computer ratio was lower on average in private secondary than in private elementary schools.

Another common measure of the prevalence of computers in schools is the number of students per instructional computer.² This measure excludes computers that may be used exclusively for administrative or other noninstruc-tional purposes. In 1998, the average number of private school students per instructional computer was eight (table 1). In public schools, there was an average of six students to each instructional computer in 1998 (Rowand 1999). Nonsectarian private schools had a lower average student-to-instructional computer ratio (6:1) than did Catholic schools (8:1) and other religious schools (9:1). In addition, the student-to-instructional computer ratio was higher in private elementary schools (8:1) than in private secondary or combined schools (7:1).

Table 1.—Ratio of private school students to computers and to instructional computers, by school characteristics: 1995 and 1998

The percentage of schools and the percentage of instruc-tional rooms³ with connections to the Internet are two measures commonly used to provide an indication of Internet access in schools. In 1998, 67 percent of private schools were connected to the Internet, up from 25 percent in 1995 (table 2). This 67 percent of private schools connected to the Internet enrolled 81 percent of all private school students (not shown in tables). In 1998, 89 percent of public schools had access to the Internet (Rowand 1999), representing 91 percent of all public school students.

The availability of Internet access in private schools varied somewhat by school characteristics. In 1995, Catholic and nonsectarian schools were more likely than those with other religious affiliations to have Internet access, while in 1998 Catholic schools were more likely than both nonsectarian and other religious schools to be connected to the Internet. In 1995 and in 1998, secondary schools were more likely than elementary and combined schools to have Internet access (table 2). Rural private schools were less likely than private schools in other locations to be connected to the Internet in 1995. In 1998, however, rural private schools were about as likely as private schools in other locations to be connected to the Internet.

Table 2 shows that the percentage of instructional rooms with access to the Internet in private schools increased, from 5 percent in 1995 to 25 percent in 1998. In that same year, 51 percent of public school instructional rooms were connected to the Internet (Rowand 1999). In 1998, 41 percent of instructional rooms in nonsectarian schools were connected to the Internet, compared with 27 percent of instructional rooms in Catholic schools and 18 percent of instructional rooms in other religious schools. Ten percent of instructional rooms in private schools with 50 percent or more minority enrollment had Internet access, compared with 27 to 32 percent of instructional rooms in schools with less than 50 percent minority enrollment.

Other ways to look at the availability of Internet access in private schools are the number of private school students per computer with Internet access and the number of private school students per instructional computer with Internet access. In 1995, there were about 99 private school students per computer with Internet access (table 3). By 1998, there were 12 private school students per computer with Internet access. In 1998, the ratio of students to instructional computer with Internet access was 15 to 1 (table 3).

Table 2.—Among private schools, percentage of schools and instructional rooms with Internet access, and among private schools without Internet access, percentage that have plans to gain access, by school characteristics: 1995 and 1998

Table 3.—Ratio of private school students to computer with Internet access, and to instructional computer with Internet access, by school characteristics: 1995 and 1998

While more private schools were connected to the Internet in 1998 than in 1995, 33 percent of private schools did not have Internet access in 1998. Of these schools, about half (46 percent) have plans to obtain access to the Internet in the future (table 2). Plans to connect to the Internet varied somewhat by school characteristics. Catholic schools were more likely to indicate that they had plans to connect to the Internet (74 percent) than other religious schools (41 percent) and nonsectarian schools (38 percent). Private schools in rural locations were less likely to indicate plans to acquire Internet access than were schools in city and urban fringe locations.

To provide information about the preparedness of private school teachers to use technology in their classrooms, items about the types of advanced telecommunications training private schools offered or participated in were included for the first time on the 1998 survey. In 1998, 64 percent of private schools offered or participated in some type of advanced telecommunications training for teachers (figure 1).

The most common type of training was on the use of computers, with 60 percent of private schools offering or participating in this type of training. Catholic schools were more likely than nonsectarian schools and other religious schools to offer or participate in training for teachers in computers, Internet access, and integrating technology into the curriculum (not shown in tables).

Figure 1.—Percentage of private schools offering or participating in advanced telecommunications training for teachers, by type of training: 1998

This Stats in Brief has described the marked increase in access to computers and the Internet among private schools and their students from 1995 to 1998. Over that time, the average student-to-computer ratio decreased from 9:1 to 6:1, while the percent of schools with access to the Internet increased from 25 to 67 percent. A full report (Parsad and Farris forthcoming) on the results of the 1998 survey ("Advanced Telecommunications in U.S. Private Schools: 1998-1999") will be released by NCES in the spring of 2000. The report will include additional information on computer and Internet availability, the use of advanced telecommunications, sources of support for advanced telecommunications, and similarities and differences with public schools.