Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools and Classrooms: 1994-2001. E.D. Tabs.

Since 1994, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has surveyed public schools to estimate access to information technology in schools and classrooms. In the fall of each academic year, anew nationally representative sample of approximately 1,000 public schools has been surveyed about Internet access and Internet-related topics. This survey was conducted by NCES using the Fast Response Survey System (FRSS). FRSS is designed to administer short, focused, issue-oriented surveys that require minimal burden on respondents and have a quick turnaround from data collection to reporting. Questionnaires for this survey were mailed to a representative sample of 1,209 public schools in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data have been weighted to yield national estimates. This report presents key findings from the survey "Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools, Fall 2001." For selected topics, data from previous FRSS Internet surveys are presented as well. The findings are organized as follows: school connectivity; students and computer access; operating systems, memory capacity, and disk space; special hardware and software for students with disabilities; the Internet as a way to communicate with parents and students; and technologies and procedures to prevent student access to inappropriate material on the Internet. Detailed information about the survey methodology is provided in Appendix A, and the questionnaire is found in Appendix B. (Contains 11 references and 41 tables.) (AEF)