Schools with Computers Available for Instruction
Exhibit 5.6 shows principals’ reports about the availability of computers for reading instruction. On average, the majority of the fourth grade students (51%) were in schools that had 1 computer for 1 to 2 students, 23 percent in schools with 1 computer for 3 to 5 students, 19 percent in schools with 1 computer for 6 or more students, and 7 percent in schools with no computers available for instruction. The relationship between computer availability and average reading achievement is difficult to interpret because it is highly interrelated with socioeconomic levels and instructional practices. In the primary grades, computer instruction often is used for remedial purposes. The results show that those students in schools with no computers had lower achievement than the students in schools with computer availability.
