1998 Analysis of Technology in Washington Public Schools
September 1998
By Martha Ann Cepress
Overview
In April 1998, the Technology Alliance mailed a fax-back survey to Washington State's 296 school districts. The survey had two goals: to provide a snapshot of the status of technology in public schools and; to build a reliable source of data that will enable educators and decision-makers to track progress, measure success, and identify areas in need of improvement over time. (This survey will be used in subsequent studies sponsored by the Technology Alliance and conducted by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.)
To this end, the survey included questions regarding spending, sources of funding, technology plans, "connectivity" and hardware demographics, bonds and levies, and also provided an opportunity to share both pressing issues as well as success stories. A copy of the questionnaire distributed to the school districts can be found at the end of this report.
In a concerted effort with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), the Technology Alliance achieved a response rate of 78 percent, or 227 districts. These districts represent approximately 82 percent of the state's students.
Data from the responding districts, including "poverty variables" such as per-pupil property assessment, and percentage of participation in a free or reduced lunch program obtained from OSPI, were then compiled and analyzed. The results of these analyses can be found within the subsequent six sections of this Executive Summary: Key Findings, Funding and Expenditures, Demographics, Equity, Pressing Issues, and Success Stories.
For simplicity, some analysis was conducted by comparing the state's nine Educational Service Districts (ESDs) which include; Spokane (ESD 101); Yakima (ESD 105); Vancouver (ESD 112); Olympia (ESD 113); Bremerton (ESD 114); Puget Sound (121); Walla Walla (123); and Wenatchee (ESD 171).
Results are assumed to be statistically significant within ±3 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence interval. That is, 95 times out of 100, the results will differ by no more than three percent from what would have been obtained by surveying all 297 districts. Five surveys were returned incomplete, and are not part of the sample count.