Thursday, September 6, 2001 Mid-Atlantic Regional Technology in Education Consortium   1301 Cecil B. Moore Ave. Ritter Annex 9th Floor Temple University - CRHDE Philadelphia, PA 19122 800-892-5550 215-204-5130 (fax) General Inquires: Laurence Peters Johann Sarmiento Judith Stull   Technical Assistance: Barry Mansfield   Professional Development: Joan Pasternak Temple University Center for Research in Human Development and Education The Mid-Atlantic Region: A Profile of Technology Use in the Schools                                      No. 106 by Judith Stull Although the mid-Atlantic region is relatively small geographically compared with those covered by other Regional Educational Laboratories, it is very diverse in terms of economic and social conditions. This region includes suburbs, with the wealthiest and best-educated people in the nation, along with inner-city ghettos, with the very poorest and least-well-educated people. Further complicating the picture are large rural areas seemingly cut off from modern development, yet with all of the modern-day social problems. Demographics on the region are provided in greater detail below. Population Characteristics of the Mid-Atlantic Region   The region consists of five jurisdictions: four states (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) and Washington, DC. The region is diverse. Pennsylvania is a large state with a total population that ranks sixth in the nation and is the most populous in the mid-Atlantic region.It includes the largest (Philadelphia) and fourth largest (Pittsburgh) cities in the region, and yet it is the least densely populated of the five areas. At the other  extreme is    Washington,  DC, which has  the   smallest   population of any of the five jurisdictions of the mid-Atlantic region, yet is the most densely populated. New Jersey has no census-defined rural areas, and Delaware has no city with a population of 100,000 or more. In the last census for which data are available, 78.3% of the total population resided in census-defined urban areas. Overall, the region has 10 cities with a population of 100,000 or more. Of these, four are located in New Jersey (Elizabeth, Jersey City, Newark, and Patterson) and four are located in Pennsylvania (Allentown, Erie, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh). Economically, the region is doing better than the nation in terms of the percent of people in poverty and the percent of children in poverty. Washington, DC remains the exception here. Home ownership has increased since 1986 in all of the jurisdictions except Washington, DC. The increase in Pennsylvania is the largest. Home ownership leads to a more stable population and is related to greater community involvement and interest. Page 1 2 3     Next   Copyright 2001 © MARTEC