Most UK universities can trace their current management information systems back to significant investments made in the 1990s, largely fuelled by concerns about the millenium bug and a change from character interfaces to graphical user interfaces following the introduction of the personal computer. It was during this period that institutions also…

Data are only useful if people are able to access, understand and use them. Without access to the right information, stakeholders are forced to make decisions based on anecdote, experience or instinct. For information to be useful, it must be timely, readily available, and easy to understand. This brief highlights the importance of implementing…

What happens when teams from 57 cities building afterschool systems gather to discuss two key system responsibilities--improving afterschool programs and using data for informed decision-making? Lots of rich discussion. This report covers a national afterschool conference held in February 2013. It details what mayors, program providers, system…

Data-based decision making has been the mantra of the school reform movement since the late 1980s, but California does not yet have an effective system for collecting and using vital school information. California has taken a number of steps to address this shortcoming. These include the Public School Accountability Act of 1999 and Senate bills…

State policymakers are increasingly focused on closing the achievement gap and preparing all students to succeed in school and in life. However, college and career readiness begins long before students enter high school or even a classroom. Differences in children's abilities appear as early as the first year of life, and research has shown that…

This paper first notes the evolution of instructional development which has led to a need for the specification and development of computer aids to ISD activities, then notes several current efforts to meet this need, and finally describes the development of an Authoring Management System (AMS) designed to help manage the development phase of ISD.…

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of the student affairs administrator as a decision maker in the development and budgets within the organizational system of the university. A basic premise for the model at Temple University is that the role of the administrator is a key factor in solving those conflicts arising from human elements…

This final report of a project conducted to design, develop, and test a comprehensive management plan for vocational education in Missouri is divided into three sections. Section I describes the rationale and components of a model based on the general systems approach to planning. An analysis of the planning process introduces several planning…