Author: Sheila Heaviside

Publisher: Claitor's Pub Division

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 92

ISBN-13:

This document provides data from a nationally representative sample of private elementary, secondary, and combined schools in the United States and District of Columbia in the fall 1995. Twenty-five percent of private schools had access to the Internet. By comparison, 50% of public schools were on the Internet. Access to the Internet varied by instructional level of the school and size of enrollment; 57% of private secondary schools had Internet access compared with 23% of elementary schools and 19% of schools combining elementary and secondary grades. Almost all private schools (95%) were equipped with computers. On average, there were 24 computers per private school and an average of 9 private school students per computer. Nonsectarian schools reported fewer students per computer (6) than Catholic schools (10) and other religious schools. Nine percent of all the computers in private schools had Internet access and there were 99 students for every computer with Internet access. The percent of computers on the Internet in nonsectarian private schools was almost four times higher than the percent in schools with religious affiliations. Nonsectarian schools reported the lowest ratio of students per Internet connected computer--25 to 1. The ratio of students per computer with Internet access also varied by instructional level. Five percent of all instructional rooms in private schools had Internet access. Seventy-three percent of private schools provided access in one or more instructional rooms. Nonsectarian schools were more likely than Catholic schools to provide classroom access to the Internet. Of private schools with Internet access, 94% had e-mail, 72% had World Wide Web access, 69% had access to newsgroups, and 67% had search capability services. Ninety-four percent of private schools connected to wide area networks by modem. Teachers and staff had the largest role in developing private schools' advanced telecommunications activities, followed by parents. Fourteen percent of private schools had a full-time network administrator. Four in 10 private schools that did not have Internet access had plans to obtain access in the future. Funding was the most frequently cited barrier to the acquisition or use of advanced telecommunications in private schools. Twenty-one tables present statistics and standard errors for tables. The survey instrument is included. (AEF)