Effective use of technology in areas that include admissions, record keeping, billing, compliance, athletic administration, and more hold untold potential to transform higher education by introducing significant efficiencies and dramatic cost reductions in serving students. How the institution organizes itself will to a large extent depend on how…

The Comprehensive Education Data and Research System (CEDARS) is a longitudinal data system managed by the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to collect, store and report data related to students, courses, and teachers in order to meet state and federal reporting requirements, and to help educators and policy…

The Comprehensive Education Data and Research System (CEDARS) is a longitudinal data system that will allow Washington's Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to collect, store and report data related to students, courses, and teachers in order to meet state and federal reporting requirements and to help educators and policy makers…

This chapter describes the development of a state-level student tracking system that enables the state and institutions to follow various cohort types of students across institutional boundaries. The system was developed by the Policy Research and Data Warehousing section of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV). SCHEV is the…

Violence and crime in schools affect students and their families, school employees and administrators, law enforcement and criminal justice officials, policymakers, and communities. Enactment of strong, concise school violence reporting laws is a crucial first step on the road to making schools safe and violence free. This bulletin provides an…

Traces the death of a student athlete to deficiencies in the Yonkers, New York, athletic program. Includes evaluation questions based on actions later required of the Yonkers schools. (KS)

At the request of Congressman Ted Weiss, the General Accounting Office (GAO) reviewed discretionary grant funding practices by the Office of Human Development Services (OHDS) for National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect projects. The GAO investigation focused on the extent to which OHDS selected and rejected full grant applications and…

Conflicting policies, careless recordkeeping, and racial tension added up in turmoil for the Newton County (Georgia) Board of Education when an African-American student and a white student each claimed the honor of being class valedictorian. (MLF)

Policymakers at state and district levels disagree on definitions for terms such as "dropout,""withdrawn,""removed," and "early leaver." Until these terms acquire generally accepted meanings allowing comparisons across school district and state lines, existing information processing technology will be only marginally beneficial. Includes three…

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 makes it unlawful to employ an alien who is unauthorized to work in the United States. This article explains the extensive requirements of that legislation and sets out a method to bring school systems into compliance. (MLF)

When considering student expulsion, it is important to keep complete records of all hearings and proceedings. Reviewed is a recent Pennsylvania court case in which a board decision to expel two students was overturned in the courts because no hearing records were kept. (MD)

Implementation of new college and university accounting standards for financial statements do not change the need for institutional accountability and, therefore, for fund accounting. The new standards will, however, change the level and appearance of external reporting. (MSE)

Four recent and proposed changes in national school accounting standards have significant policy implications for colleges and universities. These changes address (1) standards regarding postemployment benefits other than pensions, (2) depreciation, (3) financial report format, and (4) contributions and pledges made to the school. Governing boards…

Senate Bill 580, the Student Athlete Right-to-Know Act, requires institutions of higher education receiving Federal financial assistance to provide certain information concerning graduation rates of student-athletes. The report from the Committee on Labor and Human Resources recommends (by a 15-1 vote) to the full Senate that the Bill be passed as…

This article examines problems inherent in current federal criteria for estimating special education graduation and dropout rates. Proposed changes in reporting categories are presented. Exiting data included in reports by the Office of Special Education Programs may overestimate dropout rates and not be comparable to data reported by other…