The primary purpose of the District Capacity Assessment (DCA) is to assist school districts to implement effective innovations that benefit students. The "capacity" of a district to facilitate building-level implementation refers to the systems, activities, and resources that are necessary for schools to successfully adopt and sustain…

A Regional Education Agency (REA) functions as a partner with local districts and the State Educational Agency (SEA). REAs provide training, guidance and support intended to enable school districts to operate efficiently and improve their student outcomes. The primary purpose of this Regional Capacity Assessment (RCA) is to assist regional…

A 1983 site-visit survey of 20 colleges actively engaged in developing their information technology (IT) expertise and resources indicate that many teachers do not appreciate the relevance of the computer to their work; few colleges have an effective and structured approach to IT in terms of staffing, equipment, or application; and lack of…

The experience of Dartmouth College (New Hampshire) in developing a campuswide information system to enhance the computing culture is discussed, focusing on four elements: the philosophy of computing as a public utility; investment in physical network infrastructure; standardization of workstations; and development of content-neutral network…

Northwestern State University (Louisiana) prepared a grant proposal for a comprehensive development plan to strengthen academic support services, including automated credit articulation, desktop registration, and a telephone registration and voice response information system. Funded by Title III of the Higher Education Act of 1965, the project has…

This document reports on a 5-year project developed by the Department of Education of the U.S. Virgin Islands to create a useful information and technical assistance system for professional personnel to bring about educational change and growth. The project was based on the original Interstate Project in Dissemination model (with the exception…

Experiences in systems-development for state information systems are summarized for eight pilot-test state agencies, as part of the State Level Information Base project. Attention is directed to the evaluation of information needs; hardware and software choices; survey administration; data organization, storage, and linkages; and staffing…

The evolution of the student tracking system at Amarillo College, a Texas community college, is chronicled for three stages: (1) early efforts; (2) participation in the development of a consortium-based longitudinal student tracking project beginning in 1986; and (3) more recent developments. Tools and techniques used at each stage are discussed…

This report presents nine steps, followed by work plans, for administrators when implementing a dropout prevention initiative. These nine steps are: (1) conduct a needs assessment to establish a database that identifies students who leave school early; (2) draft descriptors that identify elementary students who are at risk of dropping out later;…

Experiences of pilot-test state agencies in developing an information system are summarized, as part of the State Level Information Base project. The background and functions of each of the eight pilot-test state agencies are described, along with the information systems approach, and planning responsibilities (comprehensive planning, budgeting,…

A discussion of new technologies and strategies for monitoring college student progress identifies four stages of developing information systems: (1) problem definition and systems specification; (2) data extraction and synthesis; (3) data analysis; and (4) dissemination. Some trends in use of data sources, analysis types, tracking capabilities,…

This handbook outlines the steps taken at Elgin Community College to establish a training information clearinghouse. It is intended as a model for community colleges to use for establishing a training information clearinghouse, enabling them to link business and industry more effectively with information on training programs available in the area.…