Elementary and Secondary Education

Technology Support

< Back to U.S. Education in the Time of COVID

With the move to online instruction, schools increased their technology support. By the beginning of the 2021–22 school year, almost all public schools (96 percent) reported providing digital devices to their students who needed them.

As many schools transitioned to online instruction during the early days of the pandemic, they assisted their students with both hardware (digital devices and computers) and with internet access. This section briefly explores the extent of this support by utilizing data from the National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), the Household Pulse Survey (HPS), and the School Pulse Panel (SPP).

Over 4 in 10 public school principals (45 percent) reported that their school provided students with computers or digital devices for home use during spring 2020, almost doubling their support compared to before the pandemic.

  • Before the COVID-19 pandemic (in the 2019–20 school year), public school principals reported that their schools assigned computers or digital devices to all students to take home at a higher rate than private school principals (23 vs. 14 percent).
  • At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic (in the spring of 2020), public school principals again reported assigning computers or digital devices to all students to take home at a higher rate than private school principals (45 vs. 20 percent).
Figure 1 Percentage of principals reporting their school provided computers or digital devices to students for home use before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, by school control: Spring 2020
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), "Public Schools (preliminary data)" and "Private Schools (preliminary data)," 2020–21.

Explore detailed results on this topic from the National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS)

Public schools in city and suburban locations helped their students access the Internet at home at a higher rate than public schools in town and rural locations.

  • The percentage of public school principals reporting that they provided computers to all of their students to take home ranged from 44 percent in rural and town locations to 47 percent in city locations.
  • Approximately half of public school principals in city and suburban locations (52 percent and 49 percent, respectively) reported that their schools worked with internet providers to help students access the Internet at home; both of these rates were higher than those in town and rural locations (42 and 36 percent, respectively). 
Figure 2 Percentage of public school principals reporting their school provided computers or digital devices to all students to take home and their school worked with internet providers to help the students access the Internet at home, by school locale: Spring 2020
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), "Public Schools (preliminary data)" and "Private Schools (preliminary data)," 2020–21.

Explore detailed results on this topic from the National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS)

Across racial/ethnic groups, over half of adults (59 percent) with children enrolled in school reported that computers were provided by the children’s school or school district in fall 2020.

Consistent with what principals reported in NTPS, parents also reported receiving technology support, including computers and internet access, from their children’s school. Results from the September Household Pulse Survey (HPS) showed that:

  • Some 59 percent of adults with children enrolled in school reported in September 2020 that computers were provided by the children’s school or school district, which was higher than the corresponding percentage in April 2020 (39 percent).
  • Some 4 percent of adults reported in September 2020 that internet access was paid for by the children’s school or school district, which was also higher than the corresponding percentage in April 2020 (2 percent).
  • The percentage of adults who reported that their children’s school or school district provided computers was higher for Hispanic adults (68 percent) and Black adults (65 percent) than for White and Asian adults (55 percent each). [1]

[1] Data from the 2020 Household Pulse Survey (HPS) showed that the percentage of adults reporting that computers were always or usually available for educational purposes was highest for Asian adults, followed by White adults, and lower for Black and Hispanic adults. For more information, please see Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on the Elementary and Secondary Education System.   

Figure 3 Among adults 18 years old and over who had children under 18 in the home enrolled in school, percentage reporting that computers were provided and internet access was paid for by schools or school districts, by race/ethnicity: September 2 to 14, 2020
! Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) is between 30 and 50 percent.
NOTE: Overall includes other racial/ethnic groups not separately shown. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Although rounded numbers are displayed, the figures are based on unrounded data. Data in this figure are considered experimental and do not meet NCES standards for response rates. The survey question refers to enrollment at any time during the 2020–21 school year.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Household Pulse Survey, collection period of September 2 to 14, 2020. See Digest of Education Statistics 2020, table 218.90.

Explore detailed results on this topic from the Household Pulse Survey (HPS)

Public schools continued to provide high levels of technology support for distance learning at the beginning of the 2021–22 school year.

Data from the beginning of the 2021–22 school year show that schools continued to support students who needed help with digital devices and internet access for distance education.

  • In September 2021, 96 percent of public schools reported providing digital devices, such as tablets, to students who needed them.
  • Schools also provided students who needed it with internet access at home (70 percent) and at locations other than the home (49 percent). 
Figure 4 Percentage of public schools that provided digital devices and internet access to students who need them: September 2021
NOTE: Approximately 170 schools completed the September survey. While the results have been weighted and adjusted for nonresponse, these experimental data should be interpreted with caution.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, School Pulse Panel (September 2021).

Explore detailed results on this topic from the School Pulse Panel (SPP)