The No Child Left Behind legislation has drawn increased attention to student data. Data are most useful in educational decision-making when the purpose extends beyond vertical accountability and toward school- and classroom-level decision-making that enhances the experience and achievement of students. This necessarily involves getting practical…

School systems face many decisions in developing and maintaining learning environments that create success for all students. From district operations to the classroom, district leaders implement solutions and take action based on the information they have at hand. While there is no shortage of data, turning that data into useful information is as…

A decision support system (DSS) is an interactive computerized system capable of providing direct, personal support for complex managerial decisions. This paper reviews DDSs and their general capabilities, describes potential benefits to school administrators, presents DDS applications in several school districts, and discusses implementation…

A decision support system integrates individuals' intellectual resources with computer capabilities to improve decision-making quality. This paper presents the theoretical aspects of decision making and decision support and shows how the theories can be applied in developing an operational management decision-making support system for room booking…

High-quality out-of-school-time (OST) programs have a positive effect on youth development, but many cities have found it difficult to address the challenges of expanding and improving the quality of programs offered to underserved and high-need students. In response, The Wallace Foundation sponsored an initiative to help five cities increase…

Computerized discipline referral data are a valuable resource in identifying at-risk students and staff development needs. Graphing referral data according to grade level, types of problem behavior, gender, or other features can facilitate decisions about applicable types of prevention programs and schoolwide strategies. (Contains 44 references.)…

Data custodians are described as "owners" of the data and administrative computing staff the data processors. New hardware and software have put the processing tools into the hands of anyone who can afford them. The term "end-user computing" refers to the processing of data in the administrative units. (MLW)

An overview of some fundamentals and issues of concern related to networking projects and their payoffs are presented. There is currently no available single product to monitor and diagnose problems within a complex network, so network management must utilize many tools from multiple vendors to troubleshoot and manage network resources. (MLW)

Institutional policies are needed to guide the responsible use of data, especially in a decentralized operating environment. Factors that influence the development and implementation of policies for decentralized data use are explored. Data use, technological developments, and the needs and responsibilities of users and the institution must be…

The Executive information System (EIS), a decision support system for the executive, is defined, a comparison is made between EIS and its predecessors, and the differences between EIS in academic institutions vis-a-vis private business firms are discussed. An outline is also provided of the technological and data requirements for executive…

This paper presents a model for obtaining and organizing managment information for decision making in university planning, developed by the Bureau for Management Information of the University of South Africa. The model identifies the fundamental entities of the university as environment, finance, physical facilities, assets, personnel, and…

Successful strategies for implementing and operating the Further Education Management Information System (FEMIS) at colleges of further education in the United Kingdom are discussed, along with the development of associated microcomputer-based decision support systems. FEMIS has been targeted at the smaller institutions that do not generally have…

This paper suggests methods for collecting and using student information for school improvement by describing how the Richardson Independent School District (RISD), Texas, determines data for effective school management decisionmaking. RISD readily accesses student information via a networked database on line with the central office's IBM…

The financial challenges facing higher education, recent trends in information technology that affect institution directions, the need for shared visions, plans, and professional leadership for campus technology, and the importance of information center support are reviewed. A wide range of benefits colleges and universities are realizing in…

The Multilevel Evaluation Systems Project at the University of California at Los Angeles Center for Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing is investigating the feasibility of developing comprehensive automated information systems that might serve the planning and policy needs of school-based educators, district administrators, and…