The National Forum on Education Statistics provides an arena for local, state, and national leaders in the education data community to discuss issues, address problems, develop resources, and consider new approaches to improving data collection and utility. This document was developed by educators for educators to remedy the lack of reliable, objective information available to the education community about decision support systems. The authors hope it will help readers better understand what decision support systems are, how they are configured, how they operate, and how they might be implemented in an education institution. The Decision Support System Literacy Task Force hopes that readers will find this document useful, and that it helps improve data-driven decisionmaking in schools, school districts, and state education agencies across the nation. This document addresses the following broad questions: (Part I) What is a Decision Support System, and how does a decision support system differ from a data warehouse and a data mart? (Part II) What components, features, and capabilities commonly comprise a decision support system? How does each broad category of these components and features contribute to system operation? (Part III) How does an education organization buy or develop a decision support system, and how are stakeholders trained to use it? Part IV is a summary addressing the previous questions. While a decision support system has numerous applications, a common core of concepts and models are associated with most decision support systems. This document emphasizes those commonalities to help educators better understand these fundamental concepts and capabilities prior to making significant financial investment in a decision support system. Appended is: Elements of a Decision Support System Request for Proposal (RFP). (Contains 5 figures and 1 table.) [This document was developed through the National Cooperative Education Statistics System, funded by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education, and produced by a volunteer task force of the National Forum on Education Statistics (an entity of the National Cooperative Education Statistics System).]