A survey of 1,500 American high schools that have adopted GIS software provides insight to the implementation of the technology in secondary education. The survey provides some of the first comprehensive data on the geographic and curricular extent to which GIS is being implemented, why and how GIS is being implemented, forces that motivate teachers to adopt GIS, and the benefits and challenges of adoption of the technology. The survey suggests that technological barriers to the adoption of GIS may be less important than social and structural barriers.