• Introduction
• School Connectivity
• Students and Computer Access
• Operating Systems, Memory Capacity, and Disk Space
• Special Hardware and Software for Students With Disabilities
• The Internet as a Way to Communicate With Parents and Students
• Technologies and Procedures to Prevent Student Access to Inappropriate Material on the Internet
• References

Since 1994, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has surveyed public schools to estimate access to information technology in schools and classrooms. In the fall of each academic year, a new nationally representative sample of approximately 1,000 public schools has been surveyed about Internet access and Internet-related topics.

Although some items, such as those on school and classroom connectivity, have been constant on all surveys, new items have been added as technology has changed and new issues have arisen. For example, an item on types of Internet connections was added in 1996 and has remained part of the subsequent surveys, with some modifications. The fall 2001 survey included items on access to the Internet outside of regular school hours; technologies and procedures used to prevent student access to inappropriate material on the Internet; special hardware and software for students with disabilities; operating systems/platforms, memory capacity, and disk space on instructional computers; school web sites; and laptop loans to students.

This survey was conducted by NCES using the Fast Response Survey System (FRSS). FRSS is designed to administer short, focused, issue-oriented surveys that require minimal burden on respondents and have a quick turnaround from data collection to reporting. Questionnaires for this survey were mailed to a representative sample of 1,209 public schools in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data have been weighted to yield national estimates.

In addition to national estimates, selected survey findings are presented by the following school characteristics:

• instructional level (elementary, secondary);
• school size (enrollment of less than 300, 300 to 999, 1,000 or more);
• locale (city, urban fringe, town, rural);
• percent minority enrollment (less than 6 percent, 6 to 20 percent, 21 to 49 percent, 50 percent or more); and
• percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (less than 35 percent, 35 to 49 percent, 50 to 74 percent, 75 percent or more), which is used as a measure of poverty concentration at the school.

This report presents key findings from the survey "Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools, Fall 2001." For selected topics, data from previous FRSS Internet surveys are presented as well. The findings are organized as follows:

• school connectivity;
• students and computer access;
• operating systems, memory capacity, and disk space;
• special hardware and software for students with disabilities;
• the Internet as a way to communicate with parents and students; and
• technologies and procedures to prevent student access to inappropriate material on the Internet.

• In fall 2001, 99 percent of public schools in the United States had access to the Internet. When NCES first started estimating Internet access in schools in 1994, 35 percent of public schools had access (table 1). As reported previously (Cattagni and Farris 2001), there have been virtually no differences in school access to the Internet by school characteristics since 1999.

Table 1. Percent of public schools with Internet access, by school characteristics: 1994–2001

• Public schools have made consistent progress in expanding Internet access in instructional rooms,¹ from 3 percent in 1994 to 77 percent in 2000 and 87 percent in 2001 (table 2).
• In 2001, as in previous years, there were differences in Internet access in instructional rooms by school characteristics. For example, in schools with the highest minority enrollment (50 percent or more), a smaller percentage of instructional rooms were connected to the Internet (81 percent) than in schools with lower minority enrollments (88 to 90 percent of instructional rooms).
• A similar pattern occurred by poverty concentration. In 2001, schools with the highest poverty concentration (75 percent or more students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch) had fewer rooms with Internet access than schools with less than 35 percent eligible students and schools with 35 to 49 percent eligible students (79 percent of instructional rooms compared with 90 and 89 percent, respectively).
• Despite these continuing differences, however, the percentage of instructional rooms with Internet access increased between 2000 and 2001 in these schools—from 60 to 79 percent in schools with the highest concentration of poverty and from 64 to 81 percent in schools with the highest minority enrollment.

Table 2. Percent of public school instructional rooms with Internet access, by school characteristics: 1994–2001

• Over the years, changes have occurred in the types of Internet connections used by public schools and the speed at which they are connected to the Internet. In 1996, dial-up Internet connections were used by almost three-fourths (74 percent) of public schools having Internet access (Heaviside, Riggins, and Farris 1997). In 2001, the majority of public schools (55 percent) reported using T1/DS1 lines, a continuous and much faster type of Internet connection than dial-up connections, and 5 percent of schools used dial-up connections.
• In 2001, 85 percent of public schools used broadband connections to access the Internet. This is an increase from 2000, when 80 percent of the schools were using this type of connection.²
• In 2001, as in 2000, the likelihood of using broadband connections increased with school size; in 2001, 72 percent of small schools reported using broadband connections to access the Internet, compared with 96 percent of large schools.
• In 2001, the likelihood of using broadband connections also generally increased with minority enrollment and poverty concentration. For example, 81 percent of public schools with the lowest minority enrollment used broadband connections when connecting to the Internet, compared with 93 percent of schools with the highest minority enrollment.
• Between 2000 and 2001, the use of broadband connections increased from 81 percent to 93 percent in schools with the highest minority enrollment. Similarly, the percentage of schools with the highest poverty concentration using broadband connections to access the Internet increased from 75 percent to 90 percent.

According to a recent study, more school-age children in the nation use computers at school than at home (Newburger 2001). The survey " Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools, Fall 2001" obtained information on various measures of student access to computers at school, such as the ratio of students to instructional computers with Internet access, student access to the Internet outside of regular school hours, and laptop loans to students.

• The ratio of students to instructional computers with Internet access was computed by dividing the total number of students in all public schools by the total number of instructional computers with Internet access in all public schools (i.e., including schools with no Internet access).³ In 2001, the ratio of students to instructional computers with Internet access in public schools was 5.4 to 1, an improvement from the 12.1 to 1 ratio in 1998, when it was first measured. This level of access corresponds to the 4 to 5 students per computer that many experts consider reasonable for effective use of computers in schools (President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology 1997).
• However, as in previous years (Cattagni and Farris 2001), there were differences by school characteristics in 2001. For example, the ratio of students to instructional computers with Internet access was higher in schools with the highest poverty concentration (6.8 to 1 compared with between 4.9 and 5.6 to 1 in other schools). Despite this gap, the ratio improved from 9.1 students in 2000 to 6.8 students per computer in 2001 in schools with the highest poverty concentration.

In 2000, 21 percent of children in the nation used the Internet at home for school-related tasks (Newburger 2001). Making the Internet accessible outside of regular school hours allows students who would not otherwise have access to the Internet to use this resource for school-related activities such as homework.

• In 2001, 51 percent of public schools with access to the Internet reported that they made computers with access to the Internet available to students outside of regular school hours. Differences by school characteristics were observed for instructional level and school size. Secondary schools were more likely to make the Internet available to students outside of regular school hours than were elementary schools (78 percent compared with 42 percent). Similarly, large schools (enrollments of 1,000 students or more) reported making the Internet available to students outside of regular school hours more often than did medium-sized and small schools (82 percent compared with 47 percent each for medium-sized and small schools).
• Among schools providing computers with access to the Internet to students outside of regular school hours in 2001, 95 percent made them available after school, 74 percent before school, and 6 percent on weekends. Availability of computers with Internet access before school decreased as minority enrollment increased—from 84 percent of schools with the lowest minority enrollment to 66 percent of schools with the highest minority enrollment. A similar pattern occurred by poverty concentration of schools for the availability of computers with Internet access before regular school hours.
• The percentage of schools providing students with Internet-connected computers after school ranged from 91 percent (small schools and schools with 50 to 74 percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch) to 98 percent (large schools and schools with the lowest poverty concentration).

In addition to asking about the availability of computers with Internet access outside of regular school hours, the survey asked whether the schools lent laptop computers to students, how many laptops were available for loan, and the maximum length of time for which they could be borrowed.

• In 2001, 10 percent of public schools lent laptop computers to students. Schools in rural areas (14 percent) were more likely than city schools (6 percent) and urban fringe schools (7 percent) to lend laptops.
• Schools lending laptop computers to students had, on average, 10 laptops available for loan. About half (53 percent)⁴ of the 10 percent of schools lending laptop computers reported that students could borrow them for 1 week or more. Of these schools, 22 percent of schools reported lending laptops for the entire school year.

In order to gather information on how current the computers available to students in public schools are, the survey asked respondents to indicate which operating system/platform was used most frequently⁵ on instructional computers, as well as the memory capacity and disk space of most instructional computers.

• The single most common response, given by 40 percent of public schools in 2001, was that the operating system most frequently used on their instructional computers was Windows 98. Twenty-five percent had Mac OS 7.6 or greater, and 19 percent had Windows 95. Overall, 95 percent of schools reported using Windows 95 or a newer version of Windows, or Mac OS 7.6 or greater most frequently on their instructional computers.⁶
• Twelve percent of schools reported that the latest versions of Windows (NT or 2000) were the most commonly found on their instructional computers. Secondary schools (19 percent) were more likely to report these types of operating systems than were elementary schools (9 percent), which reported using the latest versions of Mac OS (Mac OS 7.6 or greater) more often than secondary schools (28 percent compared with 14 percent).
• Eighty-two percent of schools had 16 megabytes (MB) or higher memory capacity on most of their instructional computers. Sixty-three percent of schools had 1 gigabyte (GB) or higher disk space.
• Overall, 58 percent of the schools used Windows 95 or a more recent version of Windows, or Mac OS 7.6 or greater, combined with 16 MB or higher memory capacity and 1 GB or higher disk space, most frequently on their instructional computers.⁷

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires that students eligible for special education under the law receive specially designed instruction: "Specially-designed instruction means adapting, as appropriate to the needs of an eligible child, . . . the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction (i) to address the unique needs of the child that result from the child's disability; and (ii) to ensure access of the child to the general curriculum, so that he or she can meet the educational standards within the jurisdiction of the public agency that apply to all children" (Special Education Regulation 2001). The survey collected data on whether public schools had students with various disabilities and, if so, whether they had assistive or adaptive hardware and software⁸ available for these students.

• In 2001, 95 percent of public schools reported that they enrolled students with learning disabilities. Sixty-seven percent had students with physical disabilities, 54 percent had students with hearing disabilities, and 46 percent had students with visual disabilities.
• At the national level, depending on the type of disability, 55 to 64 percent of schools that had students with disabilities provided assistive or adaptive hardware and 39 to 56 percent provided assistive or adaptive software.
• Special hardware was less likely to be available to students with learning disabilities in schools with the highest minority enrollment than in schools with the lowest minority enrollment (47 percent compared with 61 percent).
• The likelihood of having special software available for students with physical disabilities increased with school size, from 40 percent in small schools to 60 percent in large schools.
• Differences by instructional level also were observed. For example, 48 percent of secondary schools provided special software to students with hearing disabilities, compared with 35 percent of elementary schools.
• Schools with the highest poverty concentration were less likely to have special hardware and software available for students with visual disabilities than were schools with the lowest poverty concentration (52 percent compared with 71 percent for hardware and 42 percent compared with 63 percent for software).

Since 99 percent of public schools were connected to the Internet in 2001, most schools had the capability to make information available to parents and students directly via e-mail or through a web site. This section presents key findings on the availability of school-sponsored e-mail addresses and on school web sites.

The survey asked whether administrative staff, teachers, and students may have a school-sponsored e-mail address. If the answer was yes, schools were asked whether few, some, or all or most of the members of these three groups had school-sponsored e-mail addresses.

• Overall, 95 percent of public schools with Internet access reported that administrative staff may have a school-sponsored e-mail address. Ninety-two percent of schools reported that addresses were available for teachers and 16 percent that they were available for students in 2001.
• Among schools that made e-mail available to staff, 92 percent said that all or most administrative staff had a school-sponsored e-mail address. Among schools that made e-mail available to teachers, 89 percent reported that all or most teachers had a school-sponsored e-mail address. Fewer schools (34 percent of the 16 percent providing e-mail addresses to students) indicated that all or most students had a school-sponsored e-mail address.

The survey asked whether the schools had a web site, the type of information it carried, how often it was updated, and whether parents and students could communicate with the school through the web site. In addition, the survey asked whether students helped develop the web site, helped maintain it, and contributed materials to it.

• Seventy-five percent of public schools had a web site in 2001. There were differences by school characteristics. For example, the likelihood of having a web site decreased as the poverty concentration of the school increased: 83 percent of schools with the lowest poverty concentration had web sites compared with 59 percent of schools with the highest poverty concentration.
• Among schools with a web site, about three-fourths indicated that their web site contained the schedule of school events/school calendar (76 percent) and the staff directory (73 percent). Between 50 percent and 70 percent of schools with a web site reported that their site contained information on programs and classes (70 percent), information for parents (64 percent), links to web sites for educational tools for students (61 percent), information on sports and/or clubs (58 percent), school policies/rules (52 percent), and links to, or information on, middle/high schools (50 percent).
• Whether selected topics appeared on schools' web sites varied by school characteristics. As the poverty concentration of schools increased, the likelihood of having links to web sites for educational tools for students decreased (from 66 percent in the schools with the lowest poverty concentration to 44 percent in schools with the highest concentration).
• Fifty-two percent of the schools having a web site reported that parents and students could communicate with the school via the site, and 63 percent reported that the web site was updated at least monthly.⁹
• Among the 75 percent of schools with a web site, 41 percent reported that students had participated in its creation and 31 percent reported that they participated in its maintenance. In addition, in 57 percent of the schools, students contributed materials to the web site. This proportion decreased as the poverty concentration of schools increased.

Given the diversity of the information carried on the Internet, student access to inappropriate material is a major concern of many parents and teachers. Moreover, under the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), no school may receive Education rate (E-rate)¹⁰ discounts unless it certifies that it is enforcing a policy of Internet safety that includes the use of filtering or blocking technology.¹¹

• In 2001, almost all public schools with Internet access (96 percent) used various technologies or procedures to control student access to inappropriate material on the Internet. Across all types of schools, between 92 and 99 percent reported using these technologies or procedures. In addition, 98 percent of these schools used at least one of these technologies or procedures on all Internet-connected computers used by students.
• Among schools using technologies or procedures to prevent student access to inappropriate material on the Internet, 91 percent reported that teachers or other staff members monitored student Internet access. Eighty-seven percent used blocking or filtering software, 80 percent had a written contract that parents have to sign, 75 percent had a contract that students have to sign, 46 percent used monitoring software, 44 percent had honor codes, and 26 percent used their intranet.¹² As these numbers suggest, most of the schools (96 percent) used more than one procedure or technology as part of their Internet use policy.

¹ Instructional rooms include classrooms, computer and other labs, library/media centers, and any other rooms used for instructional purposes.

² Respondents were instructed to circle as many types of connections as there were in the school. These percentages include schools using only broadband connections, as well as schools using both broadband and narrowband connections. They do not include schools using narrowband connections exclusively. Broadband connections include T3/DS3, fractional T3, T1/DS1, fractional T1, and cable modem connections. In 2001, they also included DSL connections, which had not been an option on the 2000 questionnaire.

³ This is one method of calculating students per computer. Another method involves calculating the number of students in each school divided by the number of instructional computers with Internet access in each school and then taking the mean of this ratio across all schools. When "students per computer" was first calculated for this NCES series in 1998, a decision was made to use the first method; this method continues to be used for comparison purposes. A couple of factors influenced the choice of that particular method. There was (and continues to be) considerable skewness in the distribution of students per computer per school. In addition, in 1998, 11 percent of public schools had no instructional computers with Internet access.

⁴ This estimate is derived from the percentages of public schools indicating that students could borrow laptop computers for 1 week, 1 month, 1 semester, the entire school year, or for another length of time.

⁵ The question was worded this way because more than one operating system/platform can be used in one school.

⁶ This estimate is derived from the percentages of public schools using Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows NT, or Mac OS 7.6 or greater most frequently on their instructional computers.

⁷ This estimate is derived from the percentages of public schools using Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows NT, or Mac OS 7.6 or greater and having 16 MB or higher memory capacity and 1 GB or higher disk space most frequently on their instructional computers.

⁸ For example, special hardware may include closed-captioned TV, screen readers, or keyboard alternatives, while special software may include Jaws for Windows, Zoomtext, or Overlay Maker.

⁹ This estimate is derived from the percentages of public schools updating their web site monthly, weekly, or daily.

¹⁰ The E-rate program was established in 1996 to make services, Internet access, and internal connections available to schools and libraries at discounted rates based on the income level of the students in their community and whether their location is urban or rural.

¹¹ More information about CIPA (Pub. L. No. 106-554) can be found at the web site of the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD), Universal Service Administrative Company (http://www.sl.universalservice.org/reference/CIPA.asp). The law is effective for Funding Year 4 (July 1, 2001, to June 30, 2002) and for all future years. Schools and libraries receiving only telecommunications services are excluded from the requirements of CIPA.

¹² An intranet is a controlled computer network similar to the Internet, but accessible only to those who have permission to use it. For example, school administrators can restrict student access to only their school's intranet, which may include information from the Internet chosen by school officials.

Cattagni, A., and Farris, E. (2001). Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools and Classrooms: 1994–2000 (NCES 2001–071). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.

Heaviside, S., and Farris, E. (1997). Advanced Telecommunications in U.S. Private Schools, K–12, Fall 1995 (NCES 97–394). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Heaviside, S., Riggins, T., and Farris, E. (1997). Advanced Telecommunications in U.S. Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, Fall 1996 (NCES 97–944). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.

Newburger, E. (2001). Home Computers and Internet Use in the United States: August 2000. U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, August 2000.

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: http://www.ostp.gov/PCAST/k-12ed.html.

Special Education Regulation, 34 C.F.R. Sec. 300.26 (2001).