State education data systems have often been described as data rich but information poor. Historically, these systems were created for compliance purposes and, therefore, designed and managed as information technology projects, but a culture change is under way. Educators and other stakeholders are beginning to value data as a tool to inform…

Educational improvement through data-based decision-making using high-quality data is a longstanding goal of policymakers and practitioners, and ensuring the quality of the evidence available to inform such decisions is a key part of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The evidence-based education that such initiatives promote involves the…

Both the collections in natural history museums, and the methods used to organize information about them vary extensively but some data elements are common to all collections, i.e., institution, catalog number, locality, date, preservation, and taxonomy. At this point similarity ends and with the next complexity level, each discipline must decide…

This second volume of a research report on manpower information availability compares alternative sources of manpower data in a poverty area of Philadelphia. The first volume recognizes the need for data, yet it ignores the statistical problems of comparability, comprehensiveness, and accessibility inherent in the agency records which were…

The Missing Children Act, H.R. 6976, is intended to establish a central repository of information to assist state and local officials in identifying all missing persons, including children. Children are more difficult to identify than adults because they generally do not maintain such common identifiers as drivers licenses or social security…

This is a discussion of some of the problems that the Advisory Organization for Gulf Industries (AOGI) will face when it undertakes (1) to organize both an information center (node) that will serve the information needs of the Gulf States of Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman; and (2) to compile an…

Discusses processes involved in development, operation, and utilization of bibliographic databases--design, data collection, processing, access, and use--and assesses their relevance to developing countries. Utilization of other countries' databases, use of services of organizatons in other countries, and participation in a cooperative system are…

The exchange of comparable data among peer institutions is discussed as an effective means of providing institutional research data and promoting interinstitutional communication and cooperation. Principles and procedures that will lead to faster, smoother, and less expensive data exchange are explained. The Southern University Teaching Load Data…

Counseling center efforts to establish and maintain relevant effectiveness in the services they offer, must be based on valid and reliable feedback from critical sources. Record keeping and data collection are the procedures by which this feedback can be acquired if they are designed to answer questions and do not become ends in themselves. A…

The Professional Development Center Network (PDC), a consortium of twenty public school districts, parochial schools, and Western Kentucky University, seeks to identify and secure resources to assist in the design and delivery of activities appropriate to the educational development of individual staff members through the online Information…

The State Criminal Justice Telecommunications (STACOM) project has developed techniques for the identification and analysis of user requirements and designs for networks for the dissemination of criminal justice information on a state-wide basis. Techniques developed for user requirements analysis include methods for determining data required,…

Stresses providing reliable, factual information directly to users. Describes classes of data, the need for good data, quality control of databases, the electronic revolution in data dissemination, systematic cooperation to reduce costs of developing online services and of creating data bases, and trends in data dissemination. (JN)

Requirements analysis and design for the Texas Criminal Justice Telecommunications Network are provided in this report on the application in the state of Texas of techniques developed by the STACOM project. These techniques focus on identification of user requirements and network designs for criminal justice information on a state-wide basis.…

The Migrant Education Program (MEP) and the Migrant Head Start (MHS) program have served millions of migrant children, but little is known about program outcomes. The Government Accounting Office examined: (1) MEP and MHS goals, operations, clients, and services; (2) coordination of MEP and MHS services within and between programs by the…

This issue includes the following nine papers on the theme of collecting and utilizing information on vocational training in Europe: "Information on Vocational Training in the Federal Republic of Germany" (Hardenacke); "Devolved Decision Making in the U.K. Demands Wide Dissemination of Information" (Cowan, Brown);…