Local school districts buck a national trend in computer access in public schools.

Wealthier schools tend to have more access to computer technology than poorer schools, concludes research by a University of Mary department chairman, but Bismarck and Mandan public school students have equal access.

"It's great to see Bismarck schools dealing with that. They are going against the norm," said Rod Jonas, University of Mary education department chairman.

Jonas examined 1999-2000 data from the National Center for Education Statistics. The data came from a survey that examined computer use in 4,700 school districts across the nation. Jonas' purpose with the research is to get out the word on computer access in public schools.

"We took a look at the latest data, and the trend is not changing. It seems to be getting closer," Jonas said.

Access to the computers at school depends on how wealthy the students' families are, he said. Schools judge economic status by free and reduced lunch participation. The lower the percentage, the generally wealthier the school and vice versa. It worked the same for minority groups, as well.

But the reality doesn't always bear out the statistics. The Bismarck Public Schools has schools that would be considered wealthy and poor by the free and reduced lunch definition of wealth. Overall, the district has a participation rate of 20 percent in the free and reduced lunch program and its schools range from 8 percent participation to 69 percent participation.

"Our higher poverty schools have more technology because of access to grants and their administrators," Superintendent Paul Johnson said.

The schoolwide Title I schools, which are the higher poverty schools in Bismarck, have access to grant funds not available to other schools. The schools also have administrators who support increasing technology in their schools, he said.

Mandan Public Schools, like Bismarck, has some schools participating in the free and reduced lunch program more than others. It ranges from 17 percent to 64 percent. The district average is 27 percent participation in the free and reduced lunch program. Those differences do not come into play when adding computers to the schools.

"Our lower and higher (free and reduced lunch participation) schools are equal" in access to technology, technology coordinator Jamie Levingston said. "Our schools with a higher percentage have no difference and, as a district, we don't look at that number."

Instead, Mandan school officials look at the number of students and computers in the district. The district is continuing to improve access, he said. The district has a little more than 1,000 computers on its network and has a goal of two students to one computer. It is currently analyzing its ratio as part of a three-year technology plan to be considered by the school board in April.

More recent data from the NCES, a 2001 version of the survey Jonas examined, shows access is improving at public schools, while a gap still exists between the wealthier and poorer schools. Most schools are connected to the Internet - only 1 percent are not connected to the Internet, according to the 2001 survey. How the computers and the Internet access are used, however, varies.

All Bismarck schools and buildings are connected to the Internet through a fiber optic connection. The schools have at least one lab, with the numbers of labs increasing in the middle and high schools. Libraries have computers for student and staff use, as well, Johnson said.

District employees have district-sponsored e-mail accounts, but students do not. Students access the Internet with a password. The computers have a filter, but the adult in the room is responsible for monitoring the contents, he said.

All Mandan schools are connected to the Internet with a T1 connection. In addition to staff e-mail, students can sign up for e-mail accounts.

Nationally, for every computer, there are about 5.4 students to use it, according to the 2001 survey. This ratio is smaller for wealthier, more white schools and bigger for poorer, more nonwhite schools. Also, secondary schools have more Internet accessible computers than elementary schools, at a ratio of 6.1 compared to 4.3, rural schools have more Internet accessible computers per student than city schools and smaller schools (less than 300 students) have more Internet accessible computers per student than larger schools.

Wealthier schools have more computers and more Internet accessible schools because of where they're located.

"There is more money in the community, not just the school district," Jonas said.

Parent teacher organizations raise money for technology, and more students have access at home, when they come from higher socioeconomic schools, Jonas said. When people are wealthier, school districts tend to be wealthier, he said.

Locally, the trend toward less wealthy schools having as much or more technology could be because of the parent-teacher organizations and businesses making donations, Jonas said. The community wealth can balance out the disparity of wealth among schools within a district, he said.

The Bismarck School District has a student-to-computer ratio for all its schools, and then schools can go beyond the district's standards by purchasing computers with PTO funds or grants, Johnson said. The district's student-to-computer ratio is 2.8 to 1.

Computers in schools are important in part because of curriculum requirements and because of the economy's dependence on the technology.

"It's important to have, regardless of social class, to have the same education," Jonas said.

Teaching technology, however, can be a challenge for schools. The business department runs the computer classes, but they aren't full, Johnson said. This is partly because of students' attitudes about technology.

"Kids believe they know how to use those programs or learn them quickly," he said. "They don't worry too much about not knowing how to use a program."

They also do not sign up for keyboarding classes, a modern version of typing classes, but their skills seem to improve as they use e-mail and instant messaging, Johnson said. All students learn keyboarding in fifth and sixth grades with word processing machines.

Otherwise, teachers tie technology into classroom lessons. But it's up to the teacher how much technology is used in the classroom, he said.

Mandan teachers have interactive white boards and projectors to integrate technology in the classrooms, as well as ways to do things like spelling tests on a word processing program and learning to do slide show presentations, Levingston said.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@;bismarcktribune.com.)