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Contents
Exhibits
Acknowledgments
Executive Summary
THE FORMATIVE EVALUATION OF THE E-RATE
FINDINGS
REFLECTIONS ON THESE RESULTS
Chapter I: Introduction
THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
ACCESS TO COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET IN SCHOOL
THE E-RATE PROGRAM
THIS REPORT
Chapter II: Study Overview
THE FORMATIVE EVALUATION OF THE E-RATE
ANALYSIS METHODS
Chapter III: Equalizing Access to Digital Technologies
INTRODUCTION
HAS THE E-RATE TARGETED THE INTENDED NEEDY COMMUNITIES?
ACCESS TO THE INTERNET AND OTHER DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN E-RATE AND OTHER FUNDING SOURCES
THE ROLE OF STATES IN EQUALIZING ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY
SUMMARY
Chapter IV: Are Schools Able to Use the Technology That E-Rate Supports, and How Is It Being Used?
DO SCHOOLS HAVE THE RESOURCES TO MAKE EFFECTIVE USE OF E-RATE-SUPPORTED TECHNOLOGY?
CLASSROOM USE OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
SUMMARY
Chapter V: Conclusions
IS THE E-RATE HELPING TO EQUALIZE ACCESS?
ARE SCHOOLS ABLE TO USE THE SUPPORTED TECHNOLOGY?
REFLECTIONS ON THESE RESULTS
References
Appendix A: The E-Rate Program
Appendix B: Study Methodology
Appendix C: Detailed Regression Tables
Appendix D: Bureau of Indian Affairs Empowerment Zone Schools
Appendix E: Comparison of Characteristics of E-Rate and Non-E-Rate Districts and Schools
Appendix F: A "Natural Experiment" to Assess the Effect of E-Rate Discounts
Exhibits
EXHIBIT 1: CHANGES IN SCHOOL AND CLASSROOM INTERNET ACCESS, 1994-2000 (NCES 2001)
EXHIBIT 2: DISTRICT ACCESS TO THE INTERNET AND OTHER DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY, AND ANNUAL
CHANGES FROM 1998 TO 2000
EXHIBIT 3: ACCESS TO DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY REPORTED BY TEACHERS IN E-RATE SCHOOLS
EXHIBIT 4: E-RATE PARTICIPATION AND AVERAGE DISCOUNTS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS,
BY TLCF PARTICIPATION
EXHIBIT 5: ACCESS TO NONGOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOR EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY BY E-RATE SCHOOLS
EXHIBIT 6: STATE INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORT AND E-RATE PARTICIPATION
EXHIBIT 7: STATE TLCF GRANT COMPETITIONS AND THE E-RATE
EXHIBIT 8: REPORTED AVAILABILITY OF SCHOOL-BASED TECHNOLOGY TECHNICAL SUPPORT,
E-RATE SCHOOLS
EXHIBIT 9: REPORTED TECHNOLOGY SKILLS OF TEACHERS AND OTHER STAFF AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, E-RATE DISTRICTS AND SCHOOLS
EXHIBIT 10: REPORTED STUDENT TECHNOLOGY SKILLS, E-RATE SCHOOLS
EXHIBIT 11: OTHER REPORTED BARRIERS TO THE EFFECTIVE USE OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY,
E-RATE DISTRICTS
EXHIBIT 12: OTHER REPORTED BARRIERS TO THE EFFECTIVE USE OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY,
E-RATE SCHOOLS
EXHIBIT 13: OTHER REPORTED BARRIERS TO THE EFFECTIVE USE OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY,
TEACHERS IN E-RATE SCHOOLS
EXHIBIT 14: CLASSROOM USE OF TECHNOLOGY, TEACHERS IN E-RATE SCHOOLS
EXHIBIT 15:DISTRICT EFFORTS TO ENSURE STUDENTS' APPROPRIATE USE OF COMPUTERS
AND THE INTERNET
Executive Summary
The E-Rate program has allowed our district to provide the latest Internet
connectivity for our students, as well as providing faster and more reliable
internal connections. We are using equipment that would, under normal
circumstances, be out of reach to a school district of our size.
Principal of a small rural school
The E-Rate Program
Although the United States is a leader of the technological revolution, there are segments of American society—particularly the poor, minorities, and the geographically isolated—for whom access to computers and the Internet is significantly lower. The E-Rate, created by Congress as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-104), is a federal program that seeks to bridge this "digital divide" by supporting broader public access to the new digital technology at public and private nonprofit educational institutions. The availability of such public access points has been found to reduce economic and racial disparities, and some research suggests that when used by trained and well-supported teachers, technology can improve learning, especially for disadvantaged children (Becker 2000). As two principals in this study observed, "Technology is a vital part of our students' learning" and "The availability of computers and software is a must when we look at the demands on meeting academic standards."
But modern digital technology can be expensive to acquire and can force educators to make difficult choices between investing in technology or in other strategies for improving student learning (e.g., teacher professional development, smaller classes, and better curriculum). Consequently, the E-Rate was designed to help schools and libraries gain needed access to the Internet and other digital technology while allowing them to use their scarce resources to support other critical aspects of educational reform. As one principal reported, "This program has allowed us to have more and better communications equipment and greater, faster access to the Internet. It has freed funds for other activities that would not have been available."
Schools and libraries approved for the E-Rate receive discounts—that is, they pay lower than market prices—on qualifying telecommunication equipment and services. The discounts range from 20 to 90 percent and are based on the percentage of students eligible for participation in the National School Lunch Program and whether the school or library is located in a rural area (where the cost of remote access is likely to be higher). Communities with higher concentrations of poor children and those located in rural areas receive higher discounts. The total amount of these discounts is, however, subject to an overall $2.25 billion annual program cap.
The E-Rate supports the acquisition of digital technology infrastructure, including telephone services (basic, long-distance, and wireless); Internet and web site services; and the acquisition and installation of network equipment and services, including wiring in school and library buildings. Other components of an educational technology system—including computer hardware and software, staff training, and electrical upgrades—are not covered under the E-Rate.
The Formative Evaluation of the E-Rate
This examination of the first two years of the E-Rate program (1998-99 and 1999-00) is part of the larger Integrated Studies of Educational Technology (ISET) that was designed to address a broad range of questions about the current use of technology in America's public schools. The U.S. Department of Education's Planning and Evaluation Service sponsored ISET, in collaboration with the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Office of Educational Technology, and the Schools and Libraries Division of the Federal Communications Commission, which administers the E-Rate. In addition to this study of the E-Rate, ISET includes a study of the implementation of the Technology Literacy Challenge Fund (TLCF) and a study of technology-related professional development and teachers' use of educational technology. This report is based on an analysis of data from the linked ISET surveys, combined with data from E-Rate administrative records for the period ending January 2000.
Findings
Two main questions were the focus of this study: (1) To what extent is the E-Rate helping to equalize access to the types of digital technology eligible for program discounts? (2) Are schools and teachers able to use the technology that E-Rate supports? How is it being used in the classroom?
The E-Rate has allowed the school district to put in place an infrastructure that has opened a huge number of opportunities to our students by accessing the Internet for research as well as video conferencing capabilities in each of our schools.
Principal of a small rural school |
|
Is the E-Rate Helping to Equalize Access?
Computers and the Internet have become widely available in today's public schools, and most parents would be surprised not to see a computer in their child's classroom. In particular, once glaring differences in the availability of computers and the Internet between high- and low-poverty schools have all but disappeared. And, although classroom-level Internet access is still more common in wealthy schools, there have been increases in classroom access in the poorest schools since 1998, after a period of relative stagnation. The recent improvements coincided with the commitment of nearly $8 billion in E-Rate discounts to schools and libraries between 1998 and 2001.
According to E-Rate administrative data, 84 percent of approved discounts have gone to public schools, and significantly higher discounts have been directed to poor and rural communities—per student funding for the most disadvantaged school districts was almost 10 times higher than for the least disadvantaged districts, and higher discounts have gone to the poorest rural communities. This targeting is especially important because, as found in this study, poorer schools that receive E-Rate discounts are less likely than their wealthier counterparts to have access to nongovernment sources of technology funds.
E-Rate applications covering the program's first two years (1998-99 and 1999-00) also indicate statistically significant increases in the availability of digital technology reported by E-Rate districts that received discounts in both years, including the fraction of schools and classrooms connected to the Internet, the speed of their Internet connections, and the number of Internet connections per student. Further, according to the ISET surveys, most students in E-Rate schools (80 percent) have teachers who have access to an e-mail account at their school, about two-thirds have teachers who can to access their school's computer network from home, and 57 percent have teachers who can also access the Internet this way.
State agencies have played an important role in helping to expand the availability of the Internet and other digital technologies, and such leadership is associated with a higher fraction of districts applying for, and receiving, E-Rate discounts. This leadership includes state investments in creating educational networks linking districts and schools; providing state regional technology assistance centers; finding ways to use other funds, such as the TLCF; creating purchasing consortia to help lower the cost of acquiring hardware and software; and providing state guidelines for the design of school technology-related facilities.
Are Schools Able to Use the Supported Technology?
Although public districts and schools, especially those in poor and rural communities, have been the primary beneficiaries of E-Rate support, significant gaps exist in their ability to make effective use of the acquired technology for classroom instruction:
- Students in poorer E-Rate districts and schools are—according to district and school administrators and teachers—more likely (controlling for other factors) to face a variety of conditions that may limit their use of technology for instruction, including inadequate teacher skills, limitations of existing school buildings (i.e., security, space, and electrical systems), and the speed and reliability of existing Internet connections.
- Similarly, students in rural E-Rate districts and schools are—according to district and school administrators and teachers—more likely (controlling for other factors) to have the use of technology for instruction limited by students' lack of general technology skills and by the limited availability of technical support staff. Students in urban E-Rate settings are, controlling for other factors, more likely to face constraints related to the adequacy of teacher and student technology skills, the availability of technical support staff, building electrical systems, and the speed and reliability of their Internet connections.
- District and school size are associated with greater organizational and technical complexity, as well as increased scale and scope of technology systems. Controlling for poverty and other characteristics, students in larger E-Rate districts and schools are more likely to face a number of barriers to the expanded use of educational technology, including availability of adequately trained teachers and of training opportunities for them; availability of instructional computers; teacher access to an e-mail account at school; speed and reliability of the Internet connections; access to technical support; and adequacy of building space and electrical systems. Moreover, controlling for other factors, students in larger E-Rate schools are less likely to have teachers who use educational technology and who use computers for "complex" purposes in their classrooms.
- Finally, controlling for other characteristics, students in elementary E-Rate schools are less likely than students in middle and secondary E-Rate schools to have their use of the Internet and other digit al technology constrained by the availability of technical support or the technology skills of their teacher.
Reflections on These Results
This study, conducted during the start-up years of the E-Rate, provides some evidence about the program's role in the growing penetration of technology into the nation's public schools. It is far from the last word, and many questions are left unanswered, but these data may inform some future policy decisions.
Can the Efficiency of the E-Rate Application Process Be Improved?
Because the E-Rate is a new and complex program, it is not surprising that district and school administrators have expressed some concerns about the application and approval process. These concerns include difficulty completing the application forms, delays in receiving approved discounts or reimbursements, and problems working with technology vendors. Evidence from an earlier ISET study (Puma, Chaplin, and Pape 2000) also points to lower than expected application rates among the poorest districts, suggesting that these districts may have a lower capacity to deal with the application process and may face financial constraints that limit their ability to pay for the undiscounted cost of technology equipment and services. A more streamlined process may, therefore, be worth considering, especially for institutions that have previously received E-Rate discounts and could be handled through an expedited funding procedure.
Is Greater Flexibility Needed?
Two findings from this study suggest a need to reconsider how E-Rate discounts can be used and, more broadly, how different sources of funding for educational technology could be combined to meet the technology needs of states, districts, and schools.
First, during the E-Rate program's early years, over half of all discounts were used for high-cost "internal connections" related to networking and building wiring, especially the costly retrofitting of older buildings to meet the needs of modern computer technology. At some point, one would expect the need for these costly items to decrease, thereby shifting the distribution of discounts to the less costly acquisition of telephone and Internet services. Such changes may provide an opportunity to reevaluate the allowable uses of E-Rate discounts.
Findings from this and other studies indicate a significant need for technology-related resources not currently supported by the E-Rate. These resources include professional development, access to technical support (particularly that related to helping teachers better integrate the Internet and other digital technology into daily classroom life), and access to a sufficient number of advanced computers and other hardware and software. Consideration should be given to increasing the flexibility with which E-Rate discounts can be used, to better enable schools to meet the intended goal of creating technological parity.
Increased Coordination of Resources
Consideration should also be given to how the E-Rate fits into the broader picture of public and private investments in educational technology, to create a more integrated system of resources. The new Enhancing Education Through Technology (EdTech) program, included in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965), provides assistance to states for the implementation of comprehensive educational technology systems (this program replaces the TLCF). In particular, the new legislation encourages states to use other federal educational funds in flexible ways to meet their technology goals and to pursue public-private partnerships.
As evidence from this study indicates, states can and do play an important leadership role in educational technology, and this new program is an opportunity to enhance that role by helping districts and schools better coordinate federal (including E-Rate), state and local, and private resources to more effectively use technology to increase the academic achievement of all students.
Unanswered Questions
This study is only a preliminary look at the early implementation of the E-Rate and was not intended to examine the impact of the E-Rate—or digital technology in general—on instruction and learning. More information is needed about the link between E-Rate funding and the closing of the digital divide, especially about differences in the quality of the equipment and services (e.g., access to broadband Internet) that are available to poor and rural communities. In addition, more needs to be known about how E-Rate-supported technology is actually being used in schools and classrooms, and the extent to which the technology is able to transform instruction and learning, as many proponents have predicted. Finally, more information is needed about the demands that this new technology is placing on instructional and other district and school staff, and the extent to which a lack of capacity is constraining the effective use of the acquired technology.
This report is available in its entirety in the Portable Document Format (PDF), which many find convenient when printing.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank a number of individuals whose assistance was invaluable to this effort. First, Jeffery Rodamar, Collette Roney, and Audrey Pendleton of the Planning and Evaluation Service, U.S. Department of Education, provided overall guidance as well as review and commentary on earlier drafts of this report. This project has been done under subcontract to SRI International, and we would therefore like to thank Project Director Andy Zucker for his support, comments, and the benefit of his extensive knowledge of educational technology. Finally, we would like to thank the members of the Technical Work Group for their valuable insights: Brenda Barker, Wake County (North Carolina) Public Schools; Hank Becker, University of California at Irvine; Larry Cuban, Stanford University; Jane David, principal, Bay Area Research Group; Eric Feder, director, Educational Telecommunications, Colorado Department of Education; Ted Hasselbring, University of Kentucky; Cheryl Lemke, Metiri Group; Barbara Means, co-director, Center for Technology in Learning, SRI International; Arthur Sheekey, Council of Chief State School Officers; and Patrick Shields, director, Education Policy Studies Program, SRI International.
Most important, this project would not have been possible without the cooperation and assistance of the hundreds of state, district, and school staff who graciously gave of their valuable time to respond to our requests for information, as well as staff of the Schools and Libraries Division of the Universal Service Administrative Company who provided the administrative data used in this report and answered our many questions about the E-Rate program.
All errors and conclusions are the sole the responsibility of the authors.
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