Introduction 

The Census of Technology (COT) is designed to assess Missouri’s continuing investment in K-12 education technologies and to help guide forward efforts. It provides important data to share with state and national decision-makers to increase public awareness and advance public policy and support for education technology. It provides local school districts with data to help identify needs and develop strategies to facilitate school improvement processes. 

The COT has been collected annually since 1997. Prior to 2001, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) contracted with the University of Missouri ‘s Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis (OSEDA) to administer the project. In 2001, the census was incorporated into the April cycle of the Department’s online core data collection system. The 2001 COT was the first to be completed by all districts; data collected prior to 2001 were adjusted to estimate the entire population. 

Different software was used to collect data in 2002, and the Department, unexpectedly, was not able to prepopulate the data cells. Contacts needed to enter all data anew, which resulted in a substantial delay in the completion of the forms. And, in some cases, this meant COT completers needed to collect all new information. Rather than just updating certain fields, as they had in the past, many users stated that they decided to take a new look at all the data being collected. This may account for some changes in the trend data. 

The COT has two parts: a district-level census and a building-level census. Information is to be completed based on the census date of March 1. The submission deadline date is April 15. 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 administrators and/or technology specialists, the District Census includes information for all Missouri school districts (524). 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 administrator or technology contacts, the 2002 Building COT includes information for 2,128 public schools. Exempted buildings include preschools and juvenile centers. 

This 2002 Missouri Census of Technology Report arranges the data for both the district and building levels according to the following areas: technology planning, technology professional development, hardware and support, Internet connectivity / distance learning, technology usage, and technology funding. Where feasible and appropriate, this report presents and compares information from previous years.  Aggregated responses for the district and building census forms are provided in Appendix A and B, respectively.  

This report is one of several documents that examine the use and effectiveness of education technologies in Missouri. Other evaluative information can be found in the Missouri Education Technology Strategic Plan and annual status reports, eMINTS Program research studies, annual technology program reports, project descriptions and annual evaluation narratives, and a series of Newsline articles. 

For additional information regarding the Census of Technology, contact the Instructional Technology section by telephone (573-751-8247) or email (instrtech@mail.dese.mo.gov).  

DESE 3370-4 6/03