With over 37 million residents, California is the most populous state in the country. California's primary and secondary schools enroll over 6.2 million students,1 and there are 3.4 million undergraduates attending 683 postsecondary institutions in California. Yet, because of the lack of a strong data infrastructure, we are unable to answer basic…

College students who are parents or caregivers of dependent children make up more than one in five U.S. undergraduates. Colleges need basic information about the experiences and outcomes of the student parents they serve, since these students face distinct challenges, including high rates of economic insecurity and significant time and caregiving…

This study shows how community colleges can track almost all of their own students who transfer into both public and private colleges and across state lines using the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) database. It utilizes data from the student information systems of Broome Community College, New York; Cayuga Community College, New York; the…

In response to legislative mandates calling on educational institutions to become more accountable for monies spent, a number of community colleges in California have implemented research and data collection models to help them answer state and local questions about institutional effectiveness. However, there is a significant difference between…

A series of projects were conducted in Maryland as part of an effort to develop a valid and reliable student database for planning, decision making, and Vocational Education Data System reporting; and a systematic and objective procedure to evaluate the quality of occupational programs in Maryland's community colleges. The projects had three…

This manual contains descriptions of all required and optional data elements used by LONESTAR, the computer-based student follow-up and tracking system developed for Texas community colleges. For each element, the following information is provided: (1) element title (i.e., the official name used in all references to the element in tracking system…

This manual serves as a guide for Illinois community college personnel in complying with the data requirements of the Illinois Community College Board's Management Information System (MIS). Section I of the manual contains an introduction, general information, a schedule of due dates for various data submissions to the Board, and the policy for…

Discusses the availability of college transfer data now that the National Student Clearinghouse's (NSC) Enrollment Search service has been inaugurated. Illustrates the use of this data resource through a longitudinal cohort outcomes analysis conducted at Prince George's Community College, Maryland. (Contains 12 references.) (AUTH/NB)

This report documents the second-year progress of the Community College Data Base Team in their efforts to build a geographically based data system for use by college researchers and administrators. The primary purpose of the 1973-74 team effort was to expand the 1972-73 data base by adding internally generated district items, aggregated to the…

Outcomes of a project that implemented a management information system to effectively gather and record student data are presented in this practicum report. The project, implemented in the adult education department of a community college and its various offcampus locations, consisted of three components: a BASIC program to calculate students'…

A study was conducted at Macomb Community College (MCC), in Warren, Michigan, to determine whether respondents to studies would be as likely to include their return addresses on business reply envelopes if there were no lines designating the return address's proper placement. From October 25 through November 18, 1993, 23 mailings were conducted…

The three purposes for which this study was conducted involved collection and summarization of otherwise unavailable data on student characteristics and aspirations, editing and summarization of reading test data collected over the past six years, and testing of the feasibility and utility of a computerized master file combining student data…

Designed to provide guidelines for the development of computerized student information systems, this report raises policy issues and questions to be resolved at the campus level and describes a variety of computer-generated reports and records that can assist in educational decision making and planning. Introductory material discusses the…

Arguing that retention research requires a sound theoretical framework and that retention planning takes place within a sociopolitical context, this paper presents an overview of the requirements and process of student retention research. Part I examines the role of research in a college's retention effort and establishes the general requirements…

As required by the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1990 (VATEA), a project was undertaken to develop an accountability system for New York State equity programs funded under sections 221 and 222 of the VATEA. This document profiles the resulting accountability system and serves as a guide for program staff…