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Summary Results-The 1997 Missouri School Building Computing
Census
Total Computers and Internet Connectivity
- There are nearly 140,000 computers in Missouri Public Schools.
- About 56 percent of those computers (77,999) are capable of Internet
connectivity.
- About a third of Missouri's public school computers are connected to
the Internet.
- Most Internet connected computers in Missouri public schools (42,391)
are connected via a network with a dedicated Internet phone line.
- Over 90 percent of the Internet connected computers in Missouri
public schools are in instructional (non-administrative) settings.
- Classrooms and computer labs are the most prominent settings for
Internet computers. Classrooms account for 39 percent of the Internet
computers and computer labs account for 37 percent.
- School libraries account for about nine percent of the Internet
connected computers and vocational/technical and other areas account for
an additional six and one half percent. Administrative settings account
for eight and three fifths percent.
- High schools have the highest proportion of their computers connected
to the Internet (46.3 percent), middle and junior high schools the next
highest (36.9 percent), and elementary schools the lowest proportion
(19.4 percent).
Number of Students per Internet Computer in
Classrooms, Computer Labs, and School Libraries
- Overall, there are seven Missouri public school students for each
instructional computer.
- There are 24 Missouri public school students for each Internet
accessible computer.
- There is only a little difference between elementary and secondary
schools in the number of students per instructional computer, but there
is a relatively large difference between elementary and secondary schools
when it comes to Internet accessible computers.
- 15 high school students per Internet computer
- 22 middle or junior high students per Internet computer
- 39 elementary students per Internet computer
- Smaller schools have fewer students competing for Internet access.
Schools with fewer than 200 students have 15 students per Internet
computer while schools with more than 2,000 students have 48 students per
Internet computer.
- More non-metropolitan students in Missouri must share Internet
computers than metropolitan students. Schools in non-metropolitan
counties have 25 students per Internet computer while schools in
metropolitan counties have 20 students per Internet computer.
- Inner city and city schools tend to have larger enrollments than
schools in towns and rural areas. Correspondingly, there are about 30
students per Internet computer among city schools, while schools in
suburban areas and towns have about 23 students per Internet computer,
and rural (mostly smaller) schools have 19 students per Internet
computer. Notice that some of the difference between metropolitan and
non-metropolitan schools may be attenuated by the relatively recent
addition of outlying counties to Missouri's metropolitan areas.
- Schools with many poor students have less Internet access. There are
about 23 students per Internet computer at schools with less than 50
percent of their students receiving free and reduced lunch. There are
about 31 students per Internet computer at schools with more than 50
percent of their students receiving free and reduced lunch.
Internet Connections and Development
- About two-thirds of the Internet connected computers in Missouri
public schools are running some version of the Windows operating system
and about a third are Macintosh.
- Among the 858 Missouri public schools with dedicated Internet line
connections most (73 percent) have 56 kilobytes per second connections.
Nearly 14 percent have "T1" or 1.54 megabytes per second connections.
- MOREnet is the Internet service provider for nearly 90 percent of all
Missouri public schools.
- Just over a third of Missouri public schools report being part of a
Wide Area Network (WAN).
- About one-quarter of Missouri public schools report that they have a
school Web page.
Internet Wiring and Computer Needs
- Over a third of Missouri's public school classrooms have been wired
for Internet access.
- Nearly two-thirds of Missouri's public school classrooms remain to be
wired for Internet access (29,054 out of 44,406).
- About 40 percent of Missouri's public secondary school classrooms are
wired for the Internet, but only 25 percent of elementary classrooms are
wired.
- There are over 42,000 computers connected to the Internet via
networks in Missouri public schools.
- Almost 28,000 additional computers are required to provide at least
one Internet accessible computer for each Missouri public school
classroom. Elementary schools require 13,736 computers, middle/junior
high school require 5,079 computers, and high schools require 9,145
additional computers.
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