Since its inception, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has been committed to the practice of documenting its statistical methods for its customers and of seeking to avoid misinterpretation of its published data. The reason for this policy is to assure customers that proper statistical standards and techniques have been observed,…

This report summarizes the problems schools are encountering as they try to use data to gauge the effectiveness of standards-based education, accountability efforts, and school reform. It provides an overview of the education market, discusses the strengths and weaknesses of available software, and describes systems used by 19 states. The article…

This report presents an evaluation instrument through which school districts and schools can identify and select computer-based school information management systems (SIMS) suited to their needs. These selection criteria were identified through a survey questionnaire and interviews at 18 representative schools in the Edmonton (Alberta) Public…

This monograph contains four position papers and two conference papers from the Systemic Evaluation Project (fiscal year, 1984) on the methodological issues associated with applying a comprehensive information system in a secondary school setting. These papers represent work in progress at a suburban Los Angeles high school field test of systemic…