A survey of all 50 states and District of Columbia was conducted in Fall 2020 to gain background information to inform an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant project called SLIDE: The School Librarian Investigation--Decline or Evolution? As part of the grant, a school library leader, some in a state government/agency position or…

Over the last decade, state efforts to build stronger data infrastructure and integrate data about early childhood services have continued to grow. A stronger data infrastructure supports states in more easily linking data across programs, which in turn makes it easier to analyze and use that data to answer important policy questions. An Early…

This document provides an overview of the critical role of fiscal data in state Part C systems. This information is intended to help state Part C lead agency staff better understand strategic fiscal policy questions, the fiscal data elements needed to address those questions, and the benefits of using these data. Fiscal data provide powerful…

The Taskforce for Higher Education Program Advancement (TFPA) represents five family and consumer sciences organizations, boards, and administrative groups. Its mission "to proactively and collaboratively strengthen FCS higher education programs" has yielded multiple initiatives including a new database. The TFPA Web Interface System…

Education, it seems, is increasingly driven by the numbers. Whether it is measuring student performance or a school district's ability to balance the books, one will find data out there about it. So much data, in fact, that it is difficult to sort through all the numbers to get the needed information. This article describes California's Ed-Data…

During the past 10 years of collecting school data, the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) has received a 100 percent response rate from member schools, according to this overview of enrollment trends and statistics reporting in Catholic schools. The data are compiled into a yearly directory, "Catholic Schools in America,"…

This report presents consultants' recommendations for the statewide collection and entry in the OCLC database of bibliographic data on New York state newspapers as part of a national United States newspaper cataloging project. The consulting team was asked to focus principally on two activities: first, the newspaper collection of the New York…

This is the fourth in a series of reports evaluating the Public Library Statistics (PLS) program, an annual census of public libraries in the United States. The census includes, in addition to a full count of public libraries and their outlets, a variety of statistics about the services provided by and, the financial condition and the staffing…

Factors that affect the utility of financial data collected through the Higher Education General Information Surveys (HEGIS) are examined. Attention is also directed to the process associated with the collection and use of that data; roles and responsibilities of various parties to that process, with a focus on researchers' roles; and possible…

Based on a perceived need for the development of a base of information for community education to appraise programs, to properly allocate financial support, and to support the decision making process, this study was conducted to determine the present level of data being collected by selected local education agencies and to determine the perceived…

Documentation is provided to aid users of a file that contains data on financial aid and school costs for a sample of students in the 1985-86 school year. Each record contains information from the school registrar's office, from the student financial aid office record, and from a questionnaire completed by students. There are 3,774 records on the…

The current status of state mental retardation/developmental disability agency information systems related to day and employment programs for persons with disabilities is described. Data regarding the number and characteristics of persons served in various day-employment programs and the funding sources are summarized. Suggestions regarding data…

State practices affecting the reporting of Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) data were surveyed. Although all but three states coordinated the HEGIS collection and reporting effort for at least some group of institutions in the state, the survey revealed a relatively weak state role in editing the data collected from the…

This report of a consensus conference on pediatric rheumatology deals with the complex nature of rheumatological conditions of children, which require diagnostic, therapeutic, and follow-up services for comprehensive care and demand the cooperation of medical, health, education, mental health, and social service professionals. Conference…

This manual contains nine articles intended to assist student financial aid professionals in conducting research. Initial chapters provide basic information for those starting to do such research while later chapters deal with more complex issues. Some chapters include appendices that provide examples of the techniques under consideration. from…