The "Forum Guide to Data Literacy" is designed to help education agencies understand and build data literacy skills among various stakeholder groups such as administrators, teachers, students, parents and other caregivers, school board members, legislators, and community groups. This resource defines and discusses the importance of data…

California's education data, at least as they currently are collected, managed, and made available, are not sufficient for understanding and addressing the needs of California's students. That's the conclusion of the first three reports in the series "California Education Policy, Student Data, and the Quest to Improve Student Progress,"…

Most data-informed decision-making in education is undermined by flawed interpretations. Educator-driven interventions to improve data use are beneficial but not omnipotent, as data misunderstandings persist at schools and school districts commended for ideal data use support. Meanwhile, most data systems and reports display figures without…

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…

Field instruction is a critical piece of undergraduate geoscience majors' education, and fieldwork remains a major part of the work of professional geologists. Despite the central importance of field education, there exists relatively little educational research exploring how students learn to solve problems in geological fieldwork. This study…

Six reports concerning design of an information system to aid the Los Angeles city schools in implementing accountability and program budgeting are summarized. Extensive interviewing and system analysis led to focusing decisionmaking and accountability on the individual school principal, unlike the present centralized decisionmaking and resource…

High-quality out-of-school-time (OST) programs have a positive effect on youth development, but many cities have found it difficult to address the challenges of expanding and improving the quality of programs offered to underserved and high-need students. In response, The Wallace Foundation sponsored an initiative to help five cities increase…

THIS PAPER, PRESENTED AT THE SYMPOSIUM ON THE APPLICATION OF SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES TO EDUCATIONAL PLANNING IN CALIFORNIA, JUNE 12-13, 1967, DISCUSSES THE USES OF SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES IN PROGRAM PLANNING AND EVALUATION. THE DISCUSSION FOCUSES ON THE GENERAL CONCEPT OF MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND, WITHIN THIS…

Consider Adequately Yearly Progress (AYP) a misnomer, or least an understatement; satisfying its mandates demands a far greater than adequate effort. Established in the No Child Left Behind Act, AYP requires that districts and schools show a minimum, prescribed level of growth in student achievement, until the year 2013-2014, when every eligible…

This report comprises edited versions of the presentations from the 17 participants in a conference under the sponsoreship of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. The conference was designed to enable policy-makers, educators, and business people to share perspectives on the most effective methods for identifying and collecting data that…

The experience of California's community colleges in coping with the crisis created by Proposition 13 suggests that there are elements in institutional finance, mission, governance, planning, decision making, and information systems that can be monitored and manipulated to avoid administrative chaos in times of change. (MSE)

Because California lacks a statewide teacher data system, serious gaps in the collection, use, and availability of teacher workforce data compromise efforts to plan and monitor the workforce at both the state and local levels, leaving policymakers and education officials with little in-depth understanding of the current shortage of qualified…

The management information system (MIS) development project for California's Regional Occupational Centers and Programs (ROC/Ps) was conducted in 3 phases over a 12-month period. Phase I involved a literature review and field study to match MIS design features and development strategy with existing conditions in ROC/Ps. A decision support system…

Experiences in systems-development for state information systems are summarized for eight pilot-test state agencies, as part of the State Level Information Base project. Attention is directed to the evaluation of information needs; hardware and software choices; survey administration; data organization, storage, and linkages; and staffing…

Experiences of pilot-test state agencies in developing an information system are summarized, as part of the State Level Information Base project. The background and functions of each of the eight pilot-test state agencies are described, along with the information systems approach, and planning responsibilities (comprehensive planning, budgeting,…