Looking at Technology in the Classroom

A deep dive into the data around technology use in schools in the tri-state region. What do educators need to know?

Published September 1, 2001

By Allison L. C. de Cerreño, Ph.D., Mahmud Farooque, and My Linh H. Nguyen
Academy Contributor

Computer Availability for Students

TREND: Student to Computer Ratio Comes Down

In 2000, on a national basis, the number of students per instructional computer was 5, down from 9 in 1995. State averages for New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut ranged between 4.6 and 5.4.

UPSHOT: Not Down enough for Some

Disparities remain between the state averages and the averages for high-poverty schools in Connecticut and New York. Technology investment in Connecticut schools was derailed by budget cuts, and in New York it was well below recommendation. New Jersey made such significant investments in poor school districts that its high-poverty schools average 4 students per computer, while high-poverty schools in New York average 8.

Computer Use by Teachers

TREND: Computers are used more in Classrooms

Having computers in classrooms is a basic imperative. However, unless IT is integrated into teaching, the benefits are left unrealized. In 2000, 76 percent of all public schools reported more than half of their teachers were using computers in class. In the Tri-State area, Connecticut led with 72 percent, followed by New Jersey and New York at 69 percent and 68 percent, respectively.

UPSHOT: Except in Certain Schools

In computer use, Connecticut showed a huge gap between its schools with high percentages of historically underrepresented students (25%) and its state average (72%). Half of the teachers in Connecticut’s high-minority schools are “beginners” in technology use, while only one-third of low-minority schoolteachers are neophytes.

Internet Access

TREND: Most Schools are on the Internet

The Federal government’s efforts to transition America’s schools and libraries into the information age through initiatives such as the Technology Literacy Challenge Fund and the E-Rate—a program for obtaining discounted telecommunication services—produced great dividends. By 2000, 94% of schools nationwide had access to the Internet. Connecticut, at 96% connectivity, again led New Jersey and New York at 92% and 90%, respectively.

UPSHOT: Some are Left Behind

Despite an infusion of more than $600 million in E-Rate funding through March 2001, many New York schools remain without Internet access. 17% of high-poverty schools in New York are still not connected. Furthermore, of the rest, 65% access the Internet without the benefit of a high-speed connection compared to only 47% for low-poverty schools.

Investments for the Future: As Sales Plummet, Who Will Invest in R&D?

Information and electronics manufacturing and services accounted for more than two-thirds of total corporate R&D growth in 2000. In 1999, the IT industry spent nearly 10% of its sales in R&D.  Depleting sales means fewer R&D dollars available, which could significantly slow the rate of innovation in products and ser- vices. Although the public sector is likely to provide a stable source of revenue growth for the industry, very little R&D funding will come from state and local governments. Most Federal R&D will focus on basic and applied science, not product development.

Still, with increased concerns over security and law enforcement following the Sept. 11 attacks, IT applications in the areas of defense and healthcare, the Tri-State region’s top two sources of Federal R&D (see January 2001 issue), could see significant increases in the coming years.

Also read: Can the Public Sector Save IT?

Sources

• Education Week, “The New Divides: Looking Beneath the Numbers to Reveal Digital Inequities” (May 10, 2001).
• National Science Foundation, Survey of Industrial Research and Development, 1999.