Many states and school districts are rethinking how they do educational assessment. A few are going further: attempting to build "balanced," "comprehensive," or "next-generation" assessment systems. At the same time, practitioners and researchers have long mulled the purposes and parts such systems should have. But…

State coordinators of early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) programs completed a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, or SWOT, analysis that examined 12 areas within state EHDI programs. For the early intervention focus question, 48 coordinators listed 273 items, and themes were identified within each SWOT category. A…

This paper discusses the role of transition in school reform and methodology for developing a Florida database on transition-related programs. It describes procedures for ensuring the validity and reliability of database information sources. Findings from the data collection process, concerning common program terminology and school district size…

This article describes data requirements in Public Law 99-457; discusses issues confronting states as they develop data systems, such as the problems of comprehensiveness, incompatibility, and confidentiality; examines data on numbers of infants and toddlers receiving early intervention services; and explores applications of a national database on…

This overview of the use of technology in Missouri libraries describes the statewide bibliographic union database; elementary and secondary school projects using the Internet; full-text magazine database; remote electronic access; state depository program for digitizing resources; networks; electronic publishing; interlibrary loan; public and…

Analyzes the degree to which states have promoted a linkage of economic development and employment and training programs. It examines organizational rearrangements ranging from administration of these activities by a single agency to collaboration by separate organizational units through such methods as joint databases, planning, training, and…

Florida's Education and Training Placement Information Program links records of former students to databases of state and federal agencies to obtain follow-up data on employment, military service, and postsecondary education. Results are provided to counselors, teachers, and policymakers for planning, evaluation, and guidance. (SK)

Investigates the impact of statewide database licensing for ProQuest on the users of public, school, and community college libraries in Washington State. Results of transaction log data and a study of how communities used information indicated that the database is used mainly in education and stressed the importance of implementation and promotion…

This chapter examines lessons learned by states that are using student unit record (SUR) data to improve outcomes for community college students and recommends steps states can take to strengthen their use of SUR databases to benefit students and communities. (Contains 1 exhibit.)

Outlines progress of California Spanish Language Data Base (CSLDB) project in its effort to provide subject access to Spanish language collections in public libraries. Generating Spanish counterparts for English subject headings, going online, and the current effort of seeking a host bibliographic utility are examined. References are provided.…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is, quite possibly, the most comprehensive and systemic education reform act passed by Congress in the last 40 years. Given only 17 states ever fully complied with NCLB's predecessor, the 1994 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, it is only proper that legislators, policymakers, and researchers are now asking…

Describes a system for providing educational resources to educators in Alaska's widely-dispersed schools, with specific attention to the communications systems developed for delivery of educational resources, the Alaska Knowledge Base, information retrieval, training for system use, and statewide dissemination. (JL)

State-funded informational databases are a boon to students, teachers, and teacher-librarians, but as states struggle with budgets, funding for these resources is endangered survey results on the status of databases in all fifty states along with suggestions for keeping the databases or dealing with their absence follow. Today's students and…

The Oklahoma Department of Libraries (ODL) launched Oklahoma's statewide database program in 1997. For the state's academic libraries, the program extended access to information, increased database use, and fostered positive relationships among ODL, academic libraries, and Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (OSRHE), creating a more…

Discusses the role of libraries and productivity, one of the three main themes that will be addressed at the 1991 White House Conference on Library and Information Services. Statewide coordinated efforts to serve business and government clientele are emphasized, and statewide databases in Colorado, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania are described.…