Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

The 2003 Missouri School District Computing Census

Executive Summary

Back to 2003 Census

The 2003 Census of Technology shows that Missouri schools continue to improve access to education technologies for administrators, faculty, staff, and students. More classrooms are wired, more schools are connected, and students-to-computer ratios have decreased. Administrators, teachers, and students continue to become better skilled in using the technologies and, more importantly, continue to increase the frequency in which they use education technologies in meaningful ways. 

Building Access – Of the 2,250 school buildings reporting, 1,878 (83 percent) have a T1 or higher Internet connection, as compared to 1,732 buildings in 2002 and 1,490 buildings in 2001.  

Classroom Access – Out of 60,248 classrooms, 97 percent are wired for the Internet, as compared to 91 percent classrooms in 2002 and 84 percent in 2001. Just over 85 percent of the classrooms have at least one Internet-connected computer, compared to 79 percent of the classrooms in 2002 and 61 percent in 2001. 

Computer Access – Out of 270,368 computers located in the buildings, 242,981 are located in instructional rooms: classrooms (138,672), computer labs (83,897), and library media centers (20,412).

 

Students to Internet-Connected Computer: 1997=24; 1998=13.5; 1999=8.6; 2000=6.0; 2001=5; 2002=4.3; 2003=3.3

The 2003 ratio of students per computer (all computers) is 3.3, compared to 3.8 in 2002 and 2001.  The ratio in the instructional rooms is 3.7, compared to 4.2 in 2002 and 4.4 in 2001.  The 2003 ratio of students per Internet-connected computer is 4.0, compared to 4.3 in 2002 and 5.0 in 2001.  The ratio in the instructional rooms is 4.0, compared to 4.8 in 2002 and 5.5 in 2001.

 

Principal Technology Skills – In 2003, 97 percent of the principals routinely use email, compared to 92 percent of principals in 2002 and 74 percent in 2001. The percent routinely conducting online research is 79 percent, compared to 69 percent in 2002 and 58 percent in 2001. 

Teacher Technology Skills – In 2003, 76 percent of teachers routinely use educational software, compared to 71 percent in 2002 and 59 percent in 2001. The percent routinely using technology for lesson plan preparation is 64 percent, compared to 59 percent in 2002 and 45 percent in 2001.  

Student Technology Skills – In 2003, 68 percent of students routinely use technology for writing assignments, compared to 65 percent in 2002 and 52 percent in 2001. The percent routinely using technology for research is 63 percent, compared to 59 percent in 2002 and 49 percent in 2001.  

 

In 2003, 79 percent of teachers have intermediate and/or advanced technology skills, compared to 76 percent of teachers in 2002 and 72 percent in 2001. Approximately 90 percent of principals have intermediate and/or advanced technology skills, compared to 82 percent in both 2002 and 2001. About 88 percent of sixth-grade students are computer literate, compared to 86 percent of students in 2002 and 84 percent in 2001.

Percent of Teachers with Intermediate and Advanced Skills: 1998=59; 1999=65; 2000=68; 2001=72; 2002=76; 2003=79

 

 A compendium of the 2003 Census of Technology findings follow:

 

Technology Planning 

• All districts have state-approved technology plans 

• 2,126 school buildings (95 percent) have building technology plans

 

Technology Professional Development 

• 85% of districts have board-approved education technology standards

  • 81% have locally developed standards and 24% have adopted the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS)
  • 67% have standards for middle schools/junior high students (grades 6-8), compared to 63% for students in grades 3-5, 59% for high school students (grades 9-12), and 58% for K-2 elementary students
  • 77% have standards for teachers, 71% for school administrators, and 61% for staff

• The percentages of staff with intermediate and/or advanced skills in the use of education technology are as follows:

  • 89% of district office administrators
  • 90% of school building administrators
  • 96% of technology staff
  • 79% of teachers
  • 69% of school services staff

• Schools typically offered four days of professional development activities during the 2002-2003 school year where teachers could learn or upgrade their technology skills. The training offered included:

  • 16 hours – using software applications
  • 14 hours – curriculum integration
  • 11 hours – teaching applications
  • 10 hours – using Internet resources
  •   8 hours – introduction to operations
  •   3 hours – using assistive technology devices

 

Hardware and Support 

• On average, districts provided 2.18 FTE for technical maintenance and support, while school buildings reported .30 FTE

  • School building technical support was most likely provided by district staff, followed by school certificated staff and other school staff

• District administrative/office staffs use 15,235 computers

  • 93% are PCs or PC-compatible and 7% are Apple/Mac machines

• School buildings provide access to 270,368 computers,

  • 82% are PCs or PC-compatible and 18% are Apple/Mac machines
  • 85% of the PC-compatible computer run on Windows 2000 or earlier (older), while 90% of the Apple/Mac machines run on OS 9.x or earlier
  • 90% are located in a classroom, computer lab, or library media center (LMC)

• Of the 66,290 classrooms, computer labs, and LMCs,

  • 56% have telephone access
  • 96% are wired for the Internet
  • 88% have multimedia-equipped computers
  • 86% have one or more multimedia computers with a direct Internet connection
  • 23% have a teacher workstation that includes an Internet-connected computer, printer, and projection device

• The typical time-frame for resolving technical problems and repairs is under three working days

 

Internet Connectivity – Distance Learning 

• 85% of the school buildings have a T1 or higher Internet connection 

• 80% of the buildings are connected to the district office and all other buildings in the district through a local or wide area network

• Novell is the predominant server software in use, followed by Windows NT, Linux, and Apple Share

• Over 1,000 servers support Internet filtering (1424), email (1328), and web (1117) services

• Over 1,300 buildings have distance learning access via cable television, while 1,100 have desktop technology, 642 have satellite, 390 have interactive television (I-TV) and 114 have compressed video technologies

 

Technology Usage 

• 96% of districts report having technology integrated in their core content curriculum: 96% in communications arts, 90% in mathematics and science, and 89% in social studies

• Email accounts are provided for schools administrators in 96% of the districts, teachers in 95% of the districts, and other district staff in 91% of districts. As for students, districts provide email accounts to high schools students in 108 districts, to middle schools students in 81 districts, students in grades 3-5 in 58 districts, and K-2 students in 31 districts

• On average, districts estimate that 88% of their sixth-grade student population is computer literate, with over half of the districts reporting at least 95%

• Buildings report the following routine use of technology, by application and user type

Application	Principals	Teachers	Students
Educational software	41%	76%	80%
Email	97%	87%	15%
World Wide Web	94%	88%	71%
EBSCO host database	27%	33%	29%
Electronic encyclopedia	20%	40%	44%
Automated Library Card Catalog	26%	49%	57%

• Buildings estimate the following routine uses of technology, by function and user type

Function	Principals	Teachers	Students
Produce media/multimedia products to demonstrate learning	46%	43%	37%
Produce written/print products to demonstrate learning	73%	77%	68%
Conduct online research	79%	74%	63%
Communicate with parents and students	73%	64%	7%
Lesson plan preparation	16%	64%	Na
Manage student records (spreadsheet/database)	81%	64%	Na
Track student performance	78%	69%	Na
Assess Student Performance	67%	64%	Na
Communicate with DESE staff	62%	22%	Na
Instructional delivery/presentation	37%	46%	Na
Enrolled in online courses (this year)	4%	5%	Na

• Buildings, on average, report that .71 FTE is responsible for the leadership and support of teachers in integrating technology. Persons most commonly responsible include the school administrator (in 53% of the buildings), technology coordinator (49%), teacher (46%), and instructional technology specialist (24%)

• Buildings estimate that 41% of the teaching staffs are able to fully integrate technology into the curriculum

• Over 2,000 buildings use email as a technology-mediated feedback system, followed by voice mail (1053), listservs (354), homework hotlines via the telephone (280), and homework hotlines via the web (160)

 

Technology Funding

• For 2002-2003, districts projected technology expenditures of $107,992,768 compared to FY2002 expenditures of $96,761,173

• Districts project spending $90,567,797 next fiscal year, with less money being spent on hardware, instructional software and infrastructure/retrofitting; more funds spent on administrative software; and about the same amount of funding on professional development, technical support, and connectivity/distance learning

• 374 districts (71%) applied for FY02 E-rate discounts, amounting to approximately $41,676,486; of which 61percent was used to support education technology 

 

Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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