Every state can create secure, robust linkages between early childhood and K-12 data systems, and effectively use the information from these linkages to implement initiatives to support programs and children, answer key policy questions, and be transparent about how the state's early childhood investments prepare students for success in school and…

Policymakers across the nation are leading efforts to ensure that every classroom has an effective teacher. Faced with the need to dramatically improve student outcomes, states have embraced a policy agenda that promotes and supports teacher quality in many ways, including developing evaluation and compensation policies, targeting professional…

Faced with the need to create a competitive workforce and improve the quality of our education system, states are pursuing policy agendas to better prepare students for postsecondary education and careers. To inform these agendas, statewide longitudinal data systems (SLDSs) have become an invaluable asset and serve as a tool to help states answer…

As state policymakers strive to ensure that every student is taught by an effective teacher and is ready for college and 21st-century careers, they must also make drastic budget cuts. States cannot do more with less without collecting and using quality data to determine which programs and policies increase student achievement and the state's…

State education data systems have often been described as data rich but information poor. Historically, these systems were created for compliance purposes and, therefore, designed and managed as information technology projects, but a culture change is under way. Educators and other stakeholders are beginning to value data as a tool to inform…

Universities and colleges generate extraordinary quantities of knowledge and innovation, but in many ways the academy struggles to keep pace with the digital revolution. Growing pressures are reshaping how universities must do business--students expecting enhanced access and support, administrators eager to make data-driven strategic decisions,…

Considers the effectiveness of information and information theory as tools in the war against terrorism following the September 11 attacks, as well as the legal and political authority for their covert use. Topics include understanding the elements of an information network; and using organizational theory to disrupt the target information…

Discusses why new best practices in information sharing are substantially reinventing all organizations, and why knowledge sharing, if it sparks innovation, changes in organizational dynamics, and new sources of value, can offer strategic differentiation in academia and e-learning. (EV)

The size, cost, and complexity of quantitative modeling in the social and physical sciences demand that modelers focus attention on premodeling phases of analysis, specifically on formulation and definition of problems. This is especially true in the areas of futures research and technology assessment. At the problem-defining stage of modeling, a…

The purpose of the Illinois Technical Assistance and Dissemination Network is to provide technical assistance and resources to local school districts for the improvement of vocational education for special needs students. It includes an educational model designed to prevent the long-term personal and economic problems associated with youth…

Discusses the value of information-based services in today's global economy. The combination of information technology with library and information services at an international accounting and auditing firm is described; the Global Information Network is explained; and the importance of the appropriate use of information is discussed. (LRW)

The Maryland Education Microcomputer Network and Marynet are electronic systems that focus on informal resource exchanges for individuals interested in curriculum applications of microcomputers in pre-school through twelfth grade and in teacher education. The network is free to all Maryland citizens involved with the mission of the schools. Others…

This document represents the first efforts of the Hawaii State Occupational Information Coordinating Committee (HSOICC) to define the basic concepts of the Hawaii Occupational Information System (HOIS). It provides the basis on which Hawaii can build in subsequent years, and can be used in two ways: to provide ideas and material to be used in…

The University of Maryland System administration has been constructing a relational database that enables comparisons between the more than 500 public four-year colleges and universities in the United States. The data base contains information from nationally available sources, including the National Science Foundation, National Center for…

An overview is presented of the background and proceedings of a conference planned to share information on dissemination and utilization research conducted by National Institute of Education sponsored projects in educational laboratories and R&D centers in order to form a community among those who share similar research objectives and problems.…