For most of U.S. history, local communities were the primary arbiters of school quality. Beginning in the mid-twentieth century, states began assuming more and more control over school standards and outcomes. The question we seek to answer is whether and the extent to which a particular kind of local voice--the voice of education practitioners--is…

This report documents how four state education agencies are supporting local data-driven decisionmaking through their policies, practices, and programs for creating data systems, improving data access and use, and building district and school capacity to use data. Specifically, this report, responding to District of Columbia Office of State…

This report documents how four state education agencies are supporting local data-driven decisionmaking through their policies, practices, and programs for creating data systems, improving data access and use, and building district and school capacity to use data. Responding to District of Columbia Office of State Superintendent of Education and…

The utilization of the third grade achievement data reported by the California Assessment Program (CAP) to schools was studied. All elementary school principals in California were surveyed in 1979 regarding the uses they made of the report. Over 70 percent used their score reports to compare results across years looking for trends. Other common…

Investigates the impact of statewide database licensing for ProQuest on the users of public, school, and community college libraries in Washington State. Results of transaction log data and a study of how communities used information indicated that the database is used mainly in education and stressed the importance of implementation and promotion…

This document contains results of a study conducted to explore what states were doing or had done in the development or utilization of occupational information. Of particular interest in this study was the identification of methods, approaches or projects which are related to the developing or utilizing of occupational information and which are…

Improved dissemination and utilization of results from statewide assessment of student performance is critically needed. Prior research shows that less than one third of all states can provide evidence of using such data to make significant classes of decisions most frequently cited as a justification for the initiation of such programs. Yet the…

California state officials vary in their perceptions of the functions and uses of state Department of Education evaluations, according to state legislators, legislative staff members, department administrators, and outside evaluators whose opinions were gathered through interviews and at a 1981 symposium. Highlighted here are the legislators'…

This report describes the conceptual framework of a study examining the feasibility of developing, on a nationwide basis, a system of statistical indicators of educational knowledge outputs, dissemination structures, and knowledge utilization settings and outcomes, along with their contextual indicators. Using the notion of social indicators to…

The synthesis presents an initial overview of five investigations of educational dissemination and change in American schools and the implications of these studies for policy making related to federal and state dissemination programs, management of such programs, and needed research, development, and evaluation. A brief synopsis of each study was…

This document presents the research proposal and supporting documents for a study to evaluate the process of developing a comprehensive dissemination capacity in State Education Agencies (SEAs) and to assess the impact of the capacity building activities in the states, addressing two questions: Is dissemination capacity being built and, if so,…

Superintendents from 155 school districts in Pennsylvania were surveyed regarding their participation in Pennsylvania's 1976 Educational Quality Assessment (EQA). Ten state goals for quality public school education were assessed in grades 5, 8, and 11, as part of the EQA. Questionnaire responses were returned by superintendents from 128 school…

This report describes and analyzes statistical indicators of educational knowledge production and dissemination capability, presenting data at both the state and regional levels of aggregation. Three factors underlie 12 statistical indicators: a document production and access factor, a human-based linkage and exemplary practices factor, and a…

A framework is presented that relates concepts of audit reliability to the uses of information gathered from a discrepancy program audit of Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title IV-C programs in Florida. Three issues are addressed: (1) the meaning of reliability in relation to the audit process; (2) the importance of reliability of auditor…

To develop a client-centered information system to support the adoption of innovative instructional practices in Kansas classrooms, a pilot project was organized in 12 districts. Among the objectives were: to establish instructional linkages in a wide range of subject areas; to establish a system that would be generalizable to the rest of Kansas…