Determining whether a state's young people are on track for a life of opportunity is a difficult task for governors and state leaders. States can be both awash in data and unable to easily access and use that data to inform policy. State longitudinal data systems that meaningfully connect workforce, higher education, K-12, and early childhood…

Scientists have long recognized the value of having statistical data to measure the scope and vitality of education, research, and workforce development in their fields. Such data support evidence-based policy discussions in professional and governmental forums. Since 1982, the National Science Board has been required by law to publish…

Federal education policy in recent years has encouraged state and local education agencies to embrace data use and analysis in decision-making, ranging from policy development and implementation to performance evaluation. The capacity of these agencies to make effective and methodologically sound use of collected data for these purposes remains an…

"EnrollForecast for Excel" will generate a 5-year forecast of K-12 student enrollment. It will also work for any combination of grades between kindergarten and twelth. The forecasts can be printed as either a table or a graph. The user must provide birth history (only if forecasting kindergarten) and enrollment history information. The user also…

This publication presents data gathered in a survey of the impact of collective bargaining on Illinois school districts. In September 1974, the Illinois Association of School Boards mailed a three-part questionnaire to the superintendent of each of its 932 member school districts. Completed questionnaires were returned by 739 districts,…

Explores types of information which might be used in making decisions about the quality of education. Presents methods by which this information may be utilized to make decisions at various levels in the educational enterprise. Urges that quantitative techniques for gathering information be linked with decisions concerning the quality of…

This study was undertaken to establish whether and how elementary school principals differ from junior high or middle school principals and senior high principals in their perceptions of their jobs. The results indicate that, with the exception of one variable, no significant difference exists among these groups in their perceptions of job-related…

This six-step model examines the role of six potential participants in the educational policy formation process. The six steps are proposal development, executive recommendation (performed by the superintendent), legislative action (by the school board), supplementary change, implementation, and review. The six potential participants in this…

In October 1984 the Illinois Association of School Boards mailed four-part questionnaires concerning collective bargaining and salaries to superintendents in 940 of the 1,006 school districts in Illinois. This report arranges the data from the 582 responses into tables providing information concerning four broad subjects: the current status of…

Enrollment decline is a problem in the majority of Minnesota's school districts. Declining enrollment means that school administrators must plan for the financial difficulties arising from cutting budgets, reducing staff, closing buildings, and ending programs. Written to stimulate effective planning for declining enrollment, this manual…

A basic technical framework is provided for the design and use of mastery tests. The Mastery Testing Project (MTP) prepared this framework using advanced mathematics supplemented with computer simulation based on real test data collected by the South Carolina Statewide Testing Program. The MTP focused on basic technical issues encountered in using…