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Digital Opportunity for louisiana’s Youth:
Fact Sheet
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The New Workforce: Benefits of Being Prepared With Technology
Skills
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- At present, over half (56%) of
employed Americans over age 18 use a computer at work.[1]
- Between 2004 and 2014, jobs in
the information technology fields are expected to increase by about 30%,
for an addition of over 1 million jobs nationally.[2]
- 27 out of every 1,000 private
sector workers in Louisiana are employed by high-tech firms
(47th highest rate in the nation).[3]
- Louisiana ranks
31st in the U.S. for overall number of high-tech workers and
44th for average high-tech wage.[4]
- In Louisiana, high-tech
industry workers earn an average of $17,495 more per year than other
private sector workers.[5]
how wide is the digital opportunity gap?
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- 71% of households in Louisiana
earning less than $15,000 per year do not own a computer compared to 48%
of all Louisiana's households and 38% of all households
nationally.[6]
- 83% of households in Louisiana
earning less than $15,000 per year do not use the Internet at home
compared to 56% of all Louisiana's households and 45% of all households
nationally.[7]
- 10% of all Louisiana's
households have broadband compared to 20% of all households
nationally.[8]
- Among the 50 states and the
District of Columbia, Louisiana ranks 49th in percentage of
households with a computer, 49th in percentage of households
with Internet access, and 48th in percentage of households
with broadband access.[9]
Are Schools Equipping Today’s Youth? Where Louisiana
Stands
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- 27% of 4th graders
and 36% of 8th graders in Louisiana scored below the basic
level of math that is expected in their grade (national average is 19%
and 30%, respectively).[10]
- There are 4.3 students for
every Internet-connected computer in Louisiana's public schools; in
high-poverty schools there are 4.1 students per connected computer (the
national average is 3.7 and 3.8, respectively).[11]
- In 17% of schools in
Louisiana, the majority of teachers (at least half) are "beginners" when
it comes to using technology (the national average is 15%).[12]
- Louisiana is among the 34
states that has education technology standards by grade level.[13]
Louisiana's Young People Most in Need
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- Of the 1.1 million children in
Louisiana, 240,000, or 21%, are living in poverty.[14] Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia,
Louisiana ranks 11th in percentage of children living in
poverty.[15]
- 42% of Louisiana's children
live with parents who do not have full-time, year-round employment (the
national average is 34%).[16]
- 10% of teens in Louisiana do
not attend school and do not work (the national average is 8%).[17]
- Louisiana residents aged 20-24
have an unemployment rate of 10.8% (the state unemployment rate for all
ages is 4.6%).[18]
March 2008
[1] U.S.
Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration,
Computer Use and Internet Use in the United States: 2003, Issued
October 2005, Viewed March 5, 2008: 23-208. http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/p23-208.pdf
[2] Jay Vesgo, BLS Current and Projected IT Employment Figures
by Detailed Occupation, Computing Research Association, Revised
January 13, 2006, Viewed March 10, 2008. http://www.cra.org/wp/index.php?p=71
[3] U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Covered
Employment and Wages as reported in American Electronics Association,
Cyberstates 2007: A State-by-State Overview of the High-Technology
Industry. State rankings associated with footnotes #3-4 are based on
data that includes Puerto Rico and Washington, DC, along with the fifty
states. A ranking of #1 represents the best state; a ranking of #52
represents the worst. (Not available online.)
[5] Ibid. Calculation by The Children’s
Partnership.
[6] U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey: Computer and
Internet Use 2003, special tabulation by the U.S. Department of
Commerce. Calculation by The Children's Partnership. (2003 represents
the most recent data available.)
[7] Ibid. Calculation by The Children’s
Partnership.
[8] Ibid. Calculation by The Children’s
Partnership.
[9] Ibid. Rankings calculated by The Children’s Partnership.
A ranking of #1 represents the best state; a ranking of #51 represents
the worst.
[10] U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education
Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment
of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2007 Mathematics Assessment, as
reported by The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Profiles by State, March 11,
2008. http://www.kidscount.org/sld/profile.jsp
[11] Market Data Retrieval, “2005-06 Public School Technology
Survey,” and unpublished tabulations from MDR's Public School
Technology Survey (2005), as reported in Education Week, Technology
Counts 2007: A Digital Decade. This figure includes only computers
that are available for student instruction. High-poverty schools refer
to schools in which more than half the students are eligible for the
federal free or reduced-price lunch program. March 6, 2008: 3. http://www.edweek.org/media/ew/tc/2007/LA_STR2007.pdf
[12] Education Counts Custom Table Builder. Education Week,
August 23, 2007. http://www.edweek.org/rc/2007/06/07/edcounts.html
[13] The Children's Partnership, review of the Department of
Education Web sites for the 50 states, conducted December
2007.
[15] Ibid. Rankings calculated by The Children's Partnership. A
ranking of #1 represents the worst state (highest percentage of children
living in poverty); a ranking of #51 represents the best (lowest
percentage of children living in poverty).
[18] U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S.
Census Bureau, Current Population Survey: Local Area Unemployment
Statistics, Preliminary 2006 Data on Employment Status by State and
Demographic Group, March 5, 2008: 3-53. http://www.bls.gov/lau/ptable14full2006.pdf
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