Accurate measures of transfer are important to the assessment of community college outcomes. This article uses a relatively new database from the National Student Clearinghouse to assess transfer rates at the State University of New York community colleges. Past studies only tracked students within the public sector of a given state. Once…

Academic institutions are becoming increasingly interested in the collection and presentation of data to support strategic planning, accreditation, and accountability needs. With an increased emphasis on campus-wide involvement and centralized data collection at some institutions, the integrity, accessibility, and interpretation of data become key…

There are a variety of reasons which prevent users from making the most of information products. The practitioner must keep current with the myriad of information sources available and try to stay aware of changes in coverage. This paper categorizes the types of data in a large financial institution as follows: press sources, mergers and…

After a period of slow growth, companies that provide business news to the manager's desktop PC are now among the most rapidly growing companies in the United States information industry. Well established companies such as Desktop Data and Individual, Inc. are now being joined by a number of new services and by enhanced versions of existing…

Until recently, the World Wide Web (WWW) public access search engines have not included many of the advanced commands, options, and features commonly available with the for-profit online database user interfaces, such as DIALOG. This study evaluates the features and characteristics common to both types of search interfaces, examines the Web search…

The National Household Education Survey (NHES) is a data collection system of the National Center for Education Statistics that collects and publishes data on the condition of education in the United States. It is a telephone survey of the noninstitutionalized population of the country, and it focuses on issues that are best studied through…

This British guide contains reviews of software available for Basic Skills, including English for Speakers of Other Languages, in both education and training for employment. In addition, it offers guidance on how to use software effectively to develop basic skills. Section 1 provides information about the following aspects of the guide: computers…

This narrative account describes issues confronted by third grade students, their teacher candidates, and their experienced teacher as they sought to implement a knowledge building approach. Data come from the class database, videotape recordings, and the teacher's narrative account of the year. There is particular emphasis on the teacher's…

This report presents detailed tabulations for the 1998-1999 academic year that describe characteristics of the 9,653 postsecondary education institutions in the United States and outlying areas. These characteristics include tuition and required fees for undergraduate, graduate, and first-professional programs and room and board charges at…

This paper describes the Beginning Educator Support and Training (BEST) program in Connecticut. In 1999, Connecticut became the first state in the United States to implement mandatory portfolio assessment as a component of its teacher certification program. The BEST program itself has been part of the state's educational reform initiatives for…

This study examined policies to help states develop, recruit, and retain more highly qualified teachers. Researchers conducted interviews to examine the data systems in 14 states. Results indicated that comparable, timely, and accurate data about teacher quality were conspicuously absent from many policy discussions. Although states collected and…

This paper describes the use of the CoFIND (Collaborative Filter in N Dimensions) system to evaluate two assessment styles. CoFIND is a resource database that organizes itself around its users' needs. Learners enter resources, categorize, then rate them using "qualities," aspects of resources which learners find worthwhile, the n…

An action research project explored whether teacher access to information about high school students at the beginning of the semester would result in changes in instruction and interactions with students. Nine pilot project teachers received instruction in how to access the school district's student database, along with information about access to…

The foundations of national bibliography remain an effective legal deposit regime and the use of widely accepted bibliographic standards, but its nature, format, presentation, and way in which national bibliographies are produced are evolving to reflect changes in technology and user expectations. This paper presents experiences in Australia,…

The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K), Kindergarten Class of 1998-99, selected a nationally representative sample of approximately 22,000 kindergartners in the fall of 1998 and is following these children through the end of the fifth grade. Baseline data about these children, their families, and their kindergarten programs were collected…