Demography: Trends By Region And Type (EduTech Specs)

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), enacted in 2016 by a bipartisan congress, has represented a substantial change in how American schools allocate resources, assess student learning, and improving learning standards across the Pre-K and K-12 environments. In addition, it has already begun drastically reshaping the ways that schools adopt new technologies and educational resources in their states and districts.

What does research tell us about how particular demographic traits (such as region, income, ethnicity, and more) affect technological adoption? What can we learn from recent political shifts in the United States? Let's dig into the specs to find out. 

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SECTION #3 - Demography

Purpose: To discover trends in educational technological adoption based on the demographic traits of schools.

Scope: American Pre-K thru 12th Grade Schools

Research Questions:

1. Advantages: Which demographic traits lead to earlier and more comprehensive adoption of educational technologies? 
2. Regions: What regional differences can be detected in survey data?

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Advantages: Factors Improving EduTech Adoption In Schools

According to Simba Information's 2015-2017 Surveys in Ed Tech, Tablet Deployment, and Resource Acquisition, we can observe the following:

Rural/Suburban Schools and Small Districts Provide More Devices for Students.

• The average Student-to-Computing Device ratio was 2.7:1 for Rural Schools, 2.8:1 for Suburban Schools, and 3.6:1 for Urban Schools.
• Districts with 5,000 of fewer students enrolled enjoyed a ratio of 2.6:1, while large districts (more than 25,000) had an average ratio of 3.7:1.​
  
  

High Schools are much more likely to have devices for students than Elementary Schools.

• Grades 9-12 enjoy a Student-to-Computing Device ratio of 2.6:1, while K-5 schools have a 3.8:1 ratio for devices.
• Companies forucsed on Higher Education received $368M in 2015.

Schools most likely to make swift changes to increase EduTech spending are suburban High Schools in mid-sized ditricts.

• Schools Grades 9-12 were significantly more likely to indicate intentions to "increase spending on edutech by 10-15%" than other schools.
• Schools in mid-sized districts (5,000-25,000 enrolled students) were more likely to predict increases in edutech spending.
• Of Schools reporting an expected large drop in edutech spending (-15% or more), most were clustered in Grades K-5, located in large districts, and in urban/inner city locations.

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Regions: Which Areas Fare The Best For EduTech

The Midwest is much more heavily invested in EduTech than other regions, and the Southwest is the significantly less invested.

• Midwest: 2.4:1
• Northeast: 2.9:1
• West: 3.0:1
• Southeast: 3.2:1
• Southwest: 3.5:1

Some States are Mandating Digital Resources and Online Testing, which is Boosting their Investments.

• The Core Adoption Market​, made up of states investing in GoOpen digital and online resources and delineated as top adopters in the 2016-2017 market, list the following as states in which digital educational investments are largely made at the state level:
  
  • Alabama
    
  • California
    
  • Florida
    
  • Idaho
    
  • Indiana
    
  • Kentucky
    
  • Louisiana
    
  • Mississippi
    
  • New Mexico
    
  • North Carolina
    
  • Oklahoma
    
  • Oregon
    
  • South Carolina
    
  • Tennessee
    
  • Texas
    
  • Utah
    
  • Virginia
    
  • West Virginia
    
• Georgia passed a state law mandating "all K-12 instructional materials to be digital or electronic by July 1, 2020.
  
• Virginia passed a state law designating hardware/software investments as "instructional expenses" for spending/tax purposes.

Learn More

Simba Information's report on these trends can be accessed here by students of participating institutions, or for a fee.

Have any questions? Feel free to leave them below and I'll keep digging to find truths in EduTech and the future of learning!

Next Topic: Curricula: Trends in EduTech Spending by Subject Matter and Pedagogy