To help create 21^st century classrooms that are suitably equipped to meet the needs of students and teachers, reliable information is needed about the current levels of education technology and its use. The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education(DESE), (Division of School Services) is helping to lead that effort by supporting the 1998 Missouri School District Census of Technology and related projects.

The census was conducted from February-July of 1998, by the University of Missouri, Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis (OSEDA), in cooperation with the Department and the Missouri Research and Education Network (MOREnet).

The 1998 census has three parts: a district census, a building census, and a survey of teacher instructional practices

The District Census assesses the levels of planning and training for the district as a whole and concentrates on hardware, software and levels of connectivity for the administrative buildings and offices. Completed by district-level technology specialists, the 1998 District Census includes information for 98% of all Missouri districts (516 of 525).

The Building Census assesses planning and training needs for individual school buildings and focuses on hardware and levels of Internet connectivity in computer labs, libraries and classrooms. Completed by building-level technology contacts, the 1998 Building Census includes information for 99% of all Missouri schools (2,112 of 2,132).

The Survey of Teacher Instructional Practices will include data from over 1,300 randomly selected Missouri teachers K-12. This survey is an attempt to better understand the ways information technology affects what and how Missouri's students learn. The teacher survey is being conducted in October of 1998.