Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

The 2002 Missouri School District Computing Census

Executive Summary

Back to 2002 Census

The 2002 Census of Technology shows that Missouri schools have come a long way in providing education technologies to administrators, faculty, staff, and students. More classrooms are wired, more schools are connected, and students-to-computer ratios have decreased. More importantly, more administrators, teachers, and students are using technology in meaningful ways.  

Of the 55,142 classrooms reported in Missouri public schools, 92% or 50,923 are wired for the Internet – up from 84% in 2001, 82% in 2000, 74% in 1999, and 56% in 1998. Of the 2,128 school buildings that completed surveys, 97% report connections to the Internet. There are 3.8 students per computer (overall), 4.2 students per Internet-capable computer, and 4.3 students per Internet-connected computer.

 

The proportions of teachers, technology staff, and principals estimated to have intermediate and/or advanced technology skills have increased incrementally each year. The percent of teachers estimated to have intermediate and/or advanced technology skills is 76% in 2002 – up from 59% in 1998. The percent of principals estimated to have intermediate and/or advanced technology skills is 82% – up from 65% in 1998. The percent of technology staff with intermediate and/or advanced skills is 96% – up from 76% in 1998.

 

Below is a shortened list of some of the 2002 COT results.

 

Technology Planning

     
District Technology Plans

• 515 districts (98.3%) report having an up-to-date, state-approved technology plan
• 95% of the plans address software and staff training; over 90% address hardware/ peripherals and equipment maintenance; and, 85-90% cover internal connections and curriculum integration
• 85% or more of the districts indicate that superintendents, teachers, technology staff, and principals are all involved in district decision making regarding technology acquisition and use; 80-84% of the districts involve library media specialists
• 512 districts (98%) have a technology component in their comprehensive school improvement plans (CSIP)

School Building Technology Plans

• 1,819 school buildings (85%) have building technology plans; 1,783 (84%) buildings are included in district plans
• Over 80% of the building technology plans address hardware/peripherals and staff training; over 70% also address software, curriculum integration, and equipment maintenance
• Over 80% of buildings report that the principal, technology committee members, and teachers are all involved in developing, implementing, and evaluating the building’s technology plan; 73% also include the library media specialist
• 1,983 buildings (93%) report having their own CSIP, with 90% of these plans having technology as a component of the CSIP

 

Technology Professional Development 

Technology Staff

• 83% of districts have district staff responsible for technology maintenance / support; 64% use the assistance of outside vendors, and 53% use school certified staff
• 63% of buildings report that district staff are responsible for the technical training and/or support of the building staff and 63% report the involvement of school certificated staff
• An average of 3.71 district staff FTE and 1.17 building-level staff FTE are responsible for all training and support
• 62% of buildings have board-approved education technology standards: 59% have locally-developed standards, 59% have standards for elementary students, 54% for middle/junior high students, 49% for high school students, 45% for teachers, 43% for school administrators, and 40% for school support staff

Training Priorities

• 70% of districts rank curriculum integration and 60% rank instructional integration as top technical assistance priorities 
• 58% of buildings rank curriculum development as the top training priority, followed by instructional delivery / instructional technology at 56%, Internet applications at 45%, and basic computer operations at 42%
• 53% of buildings rank curriculum development as the top training priority for support staff, followed by technology planning (36%) and LAN applications (31%) 
• 43% of buildings employ a technology director or coordinator
• On average, schools schedule about two days for professional development activities when teachers can learn or upgrade their technology skills

Technology Skills

• 87% administrative / district office staff have intermediate (65%) or advanced (22%) skills in the use of technology
• 82% of principals have intermediate (60%) or advanced (22%) skills
• 76% of teachers have intermediate (­­­58%) or advanced (18%) skills
• 96% of technology support staff have intermediate (30%) or advanced (66%) skills

 

Hardware and Support

District Hardware

• District administrative/office staffs use 23,399 computers, of which 90% are PCs or PC-compatible and 10% are Apple/Mac machines
• Of the PC-compatible computers, 73% run on Windows, 10% on Novell, and under 1% on Unix/Linux; 61% of the Apple/Mac machines operate on OS 9.x or higher
• In the next two years, districts estimate purchasing (for district-wide use) 59,516 computers, 13,216 computer upgrades, 1,451 interactive whiteboards, and 1,776 projectors

Building Hardware

• 232,808 computers are available to all building staff; 211,382 (91%) of the computers are located in classrooms, computer labs, and library media centers (LMC)
• 80% of all computers and 81% of instructional computers are PC/PC-compatible
• Approximately 190,000 of the computers (82%) are multimedia equipped and with 92% of them located in instructional rooms
• Of the PC-compatible computers, 98% run on Windows (predominantly Windows 95 and 98) and 14% use Novell (mostly Novell 5.x); 49% of Apple/Mac computers operate on OS 9.x or higher
• Of the 60,593 classrooms, computer labs, and LMCs, 51% have telephone access, 93% are wired for the Internet, 85% have multimedia-equipped computers, 80% have one or more multimedia computers with a direct Internet connection, and 20% have a teacher workstation that includes an Internet-connected computer, printer, and projection device
• 91% (187,031) of the 205,068 Internet-connected computers are located in instructional rooms

Building Support

• 90% of buildings indicate that district staffs are responsible for technical maintenance / support; while 49% also use outside vendors, and 43% involve school certificated staff
• 1,335 building-level FTE are responsible for technical support, averaging .63 per building

 

Internet Connectivity – Distance Learning 

Internet Connectivity

• 93% of the district administrative buildings/offices have a direct link to the Internet, with T1 or better bandwidth capacity in over 86% of the offices
• 97% (2,062) buildings have access to the Internet, with 1,941 of the these buildings having a direct connection

District and Building Networking

• 459 district offices (88%) have a local area network (LAN), with Novell as the predominant server software in use, followed by Windows NT, and Apple Share
• 1,926 buildings (91%) have a local area network (LAN)
• 1,528 buildings (72%) are connected to district wide area networks (WAN)
• 239 buildings participate in distance learning through interactive television (I-TV), 205 through desktop (Internet-based) technologies, and 163 via satellite

Internet Usage Policies

• 92% of districts require parent signatures before students can access the Internet: 84% of elementary, 88% of middle school / junior high, and 78% of high school parents
• 1,806 buildings (85%) require parent signatures before students can access the Internet
• Approximately 79% of students have signed Internet acceptable use policies
• 1,734 buildings (81%) use filtering software on Internet-connected computers

 

Technology Use

District Technologies

• 463 districts (89%) incorporate technology into curriculum guides
• 16% of districts have student technology proficiency requirements
• 67% of districts post school calendars on district websites, 64% post district staff; 49% list school board members, and 51% post annual reports of school district data -- only 23% post student work and 18% post district curriculum
• 380 districts (74%) employ an instructional technology specialist
• Districts employ an average of 3.89 FTE responsible for training and supporting teachers to integrate technology: 2.05 district-level staff and 1.84 school-level staff
• Districts provide email accounts to 7,109 administrators, 61,535 teachers, and 49,794 students
• Districts estimate that 86% of 6th graders are able to perform basic computer operations
• 71% of districts have installed their own email servers, 63% have web servers, 70% have firewalls, and 46% have proxy servers

Building Technologies

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

Application	Principals	Teachers	Students
Software	36%	71%	75%
E-mail	92%	82%	14%
World Wide Web	86%	82%	63%
EBSCO host database	24%	31%	27%
Electronic encyclopedia	19%	38%	41%
Automated Library Card Catalog	23%	46%	52%

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

Function	Principals	Teachers	Students
Computer-generated presentations	43%	37%	32%
Writing assignments	67%	71%	65%
Research information collection	69%	67%	59%
Communicate with parents	63%	53%	7%
Lesson plan preparation	14%	59%	Na
Spreadsheet/database (student records)	71%	56%	Na
Track student performance	67%	61%	Na
Assess Student Performance	58%	55%
Communicate with DESE staff	62%	22%	Na
Instructional delivery/presentation	28%	38%	Na

• 68% of buildings indicate the technology coordinator is responsible for the leadership and support of teachers in integrating technology, followed by school administrators (65%), library media specialists (43%), and instructional technology staff (31%)
• Buildings estimate that 44% of the teaching staffs are able to fully integrate technology into the curriculum
• 948 buildings (45%) use a technology-mediated feedback system such as email (822), voice mail (546), and homework hotline (211)
• 90% of Internet-connected computers run Acrobat Reader 4.x or higher

 

Technology Funding

District Technology Spending

• For 2001-2002, districts projected technology expenditures of $84,062,539
• Districts project spending $65,755,823 next fiscal year, with less money being spent on hardware and software and more funds spent on professional development, connectivity, and distance learning 
• 337 districts (65%) applied for e-rate discounts for FY01 expenditures, estimating $50.7 million in savings 
• 18% of districts purchased technology products or services via the Missouri prime vendor contract

 

Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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