To what extent are public schools making the Internet available to students outside of regular school hours in 2000?

Making the Internet accessible outside of regular school hours allows students who would not otherwise have access to the Internet to use this resource for school-related activities like homework. In 2000, 54 percent of public schools with access to the Internet reported that computers with access to the Internet were available to students outside of regular school hours (Table 3). Secondary schools were more likely to make the Internet available to students outside of regular school hours than elementary schools (80 percent compared to 46 percent). Similarly, large schools (1,000 or more students) were more likely to make the Internet accessible to students outside of regular school hours than medium-sized and small schools (79 percent compared with 53 and 49 percent, respectively). In addition, schools with the highest minority enrollment reported Internet availability outside of regular school hours more frequently than schools with the lowest minority enrollment (61 percent compared with 46 percent). Of the 54 percent of schools making the Internet available to students outside of regular school hours, 98 percent made it available after school, 84 percent before school, and 16 percent on weekends (Figure 1).

How are public schools preventing students from accessing inappropriate material on the Internet in 2000?

Given the diversity of the information carried on the Internet, student access to inappropriate material is a major concern of many parents and teachers. In 2000, almost all public schools with Internet access (98 percent) had "acceptable use policies" (AUPs) and used various technologies or procedures, such as blocking or filtering software, an intranet system, honor codes for students, or teacher/ staff monitoring, to control student access to inappropriate material on the Internet (not shown in tables). Across all types of schools, between 95 and 100 percent had AUPs. Of those schools with AUPs, 94 percent reported having student access to the Internet monitored by teachers or other staff members (Figure 2). Three-fourths (74 percent) used blocking or filtering software, 64 percent had honor codes, and 28 percent used their intranet. As these numbers suggest, most of the schools (91 percent) used more than one procedure or technology as part of their policy (calculated from Table 5). Fifteen percent of public schools used all of the procedures and technologies listed above; 29 percent used blocking/ filtering software, teacher/ staff monitoring, and honor codes; and 19 percent used blocking/ filtering software and teacher/ staff monitoring (Table 5). In addition, 95 percent of public schools having AUPs used at least one of these technologies or procedures on all Internet-connected computers used by students (not shown in tables).

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