THIS DOCUMENT IS THE RESULT OF A PROJECT TO CONCEIVE AND ESTABLISH AN INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR FINANCIAL, PERSONNEL, AND PROGRAM ACCOUNTING OF STATE EDUCATION AGENCIES' TOTAL INTERNAL OPERATION. SUCH SYSTEMS ARE DEEMED NECESSARY NOW THAT THE AGENCIES' OPERATIONS ARE STRONGLY AFFECTED BY FEDERAL PROGRAMS AND FUNDS AND ARE THUS A MATTER OF NATIONWIDE INTEREST. THIS STUDY SHOULD FACILITATE DEVELOPMENT OF A BENCH MARK OR BASE FOR A NATIONWIDE DATA EXCHANGE SYSTEM. THE PROBLEM IS TO DEVISE A MEANS (1) TO DIFFERENTIATE AMONG THE VARIOUS SUBSTANTIVE THINGS THAT A STATE EDUCATION AGENCY DOES, (2) TO DETERMINE THE VALUE OF THE AGENCY'S INVESTMENT IN EACH SUBSTANTIVE THING IT DOES, AND (3) TO REPORT THESE MATTERS IN CONCISE, WELL-ORDERED, AND UNAMBIGUOUS FASHION. A RELATED PROBLEM IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MEANS WHEREBY THE INFORMATION THUS GENERATED BY EACH STATE EDUCATION AGENCY CAN BE EXPRESSED IN A LANGUAGE AND FORMAT THAT MAY BE UTILIZED IN COMMON BY ALL STATE EDUCATION AGENCIES. RECOMMENDATIONS INCLUDE--(1) RESPONSIBILITY-ORIENTED ASPECTS OF MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS DESIGNED TO ISOLATE DATA PERTINENT TO EACH ORGANIZATIONAL UNIT, (2) PROGRAM-ORIENTED ASPECTS OF THE SYSTEMS COMPLEX DESIGNED TO ISOLATE DATA PERTINENT TO EACH COMPONENT OF THE PROGRAM, AND (3) THE CLASSIFICATION OF ALL COST CENTERS IN TERMS OF A SERIES OF DESCRIPTIVE MEASURES. PART II OF THIS REPORT IS AVAILABLE AS EA 001 171. (HW)