Index

Overview of the Census

Overview of Census Methodology

1999 Census of Computing Distribution and Follow-up Activities

The Internet is penetrating an increasingly large segment of households and businesses. This trend is surely related to US productivity gains that continue to fuel one of the longest economic expansions of all time. E-commerce is transforming the world of work, and beginning to transform the world of learning.

The infusion of networked instructional technology into Missouri classrooms is continuing—almost all of our classrooms are now "wired." Nearly 45,000 computers were added to Missouri classrooms last year.

Yet, with over 900,000 Missouri students in our public schools significant investments in technological infrastructure remain to be made. Also, additional professional development among our Missouri teachers remains an issue. Like knowledge workers everywhere, teachers need to learn how networked computers work. They also need to learn the new teaching strategies that together with the technology can create powerful learning environments for their students.

The "census of technology" is designed to assess our current level of investment in K-12 instructional technologies and to help orient the continuing effort ahead. The 1999 Census of Technology shows Missouri has come a long way in providing schools with new technology.

• Of the 49,936 classrooms reported in Missouri public schools, 74% or 37,197 of them are wired for the Internet – up from 56% in 1998.

• Over 95% of Missouri schools report connections to the Internet.

• Student to Internet-connected computer ratio is currently 8.6 to 1. Down from 24 to 1 in 1997 and 14 to 1 in 1998.

• A student to computer ratio of 5 to 1 or less within the classroom
• A change in the way teaching is conducted using technology
• A teacher workstation for every classroom
• Professional development for teachers
• High-speed Internet connectivity

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 1999 Missouri School District Census of Technology and related projects.

The census was conducted from March-August of 1999, by the University of Missouri, Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis (OSEDA), in cooperation with DESE and the Missouri Research and Education Network (MOREnet). The 1999 census has two parts: a district census and a building census.

The actual census was administered on the World Wide Web, with each district and school having a unique user ID and password to complete the census forms. Now that almost all schools have access to the Internet, this form of data collection is possible. The use of database management systems to record census information and follow up with individual districts/schools contributed greatly to the high response rate and reliability of the 1999 census.

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 1999 District Census includes information for all Missouri school districts (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 1999 Building Census includes information for a public school universe of 2,220 schools with complete data for nearly 90 percent of them.

The 1999 Missouri Census of Elementary and Secondary Education Computing gathered essential baseline information about instructional computing and the Internet among Missouri public schools. A "census" methodology was used to gather information from all Missouri School Districts and schools. Often survey projects draw inferences about a population by measuring the characteristics of a relatively small, usually random, sample of the larger population. However, Missouri School districts have very diverse characteristics and also have widely different levels of technology. To establish definitive baseline information every district and every school was enumerated and data sought from all of them.

Response Rates:

The response rates were high for the 1999 Census: 96% for the district forms, and 99% for building forms. If 1999 data were not available then 1998 estimates were used at the district and building level. Thus, for the purposes of the study, 1998 and 1999 data were combined to create an "Adjusted 1999" response—effectively counting every district and building in the state. See appendix C for details.

Design, Distribution and Follow-up

In early 1999, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Staff, MOREnet staff, and OSEDA staff collaborated in the design of the census questionnaires. Following revisions, final formats were approved. The actual census was administered on the World Wide Web, with each district and school having a unique user ID and password to complete the census forms. In February 1999, Missouri School Districts were informed of the forthcoming technology census with a letter from the Assistant Commissioner of School Services, Dr. Marilou Joyner. The upcoming census was also addressed by Commissioner Bartman in a newsletter to districts. In March 1999, email contact information was solicited from district technology personnel and these email addresses were used to send emails with directions to the World Wide Site for the census questionnaires. These emails included all necessary directions, user IDs and passwords for filling out the census. Between March and August, an extensive follow-up was conducted by OSEDA staff and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education staff. These follow-up activities included over 3,000 phone calls to district/school personnel. On August 31^st, the census database was closed for processing.
 

During the first week of March 1999, Dr. Marilou Joyner sent a letter to all District Administrators thanking them for their support of the 1998 Census and asking for their support of the 1999 Census.

• March, 1999 district technology contacts were asked for an email address to send them necessary information.
• During the third week in April a second emailing was sent to all the Building points of contact which had not responded.
• During the second week in April follow up telephone calls were made by OSEDA personnel to districts and buildings that had not responded. Non-responding building and district contacts were continuously contacted through August.
• During the first week of July, DESE personnel made phone calls to several larger districts that had not responded. OSEDA made more follow-up telephone calls to each of the points of contact and, by the second week of July, if the point of contact was not available, the Superintendent's office was contacted. Over 3,000 follow-up phone calls were made.
• On August 28,1999, the Census of Technology database was closed for analysis.

By September 14, preliminary data were made available to DESE for reporting purposes. Summaries for individual districts were posted to the WWW in the last week of September. Final summaries and these WWW pages were completed by November 27, 1999.

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