By the fall of 2000, the ratio of students to instructional computers in public schools had decreased to 5 to 1, the ratio that "many experts consider . . . a reasonable level for the effective use of computers within the schools" (President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology 1997, p. 14). The ratio improved from a national average of 6 to 1 in 1999 (not shown in tables).

Similarly, the ratio of students to instructional computers with Internet access in public schools improved from 9 to 1 in 1999 to 7 to 1 in 2000 (table 3). However, differences by school characteristics persisted. For example, the ratio of students to instructional computers with Internet access was still greater in schools with the highest concentration of students in poverty than in schools with the lowest concentration of poverty (9 to 1 compared with 6 to 1). Nonetheless, in schools with the highest concentration of poverty, the ratio of students to computers with Internet access improved from 17 to 1 in 1999 to 9 to 1 in 2000.

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