This study investigates how article downloads from ScienceDirect changed after Temple University Libraries downsized its all-inclusive Elsevier big deal bundle to a selective custom package. After the libraries lost current-year access to nearly half of Elsevier's active journals, the total downloads from Elsevier journals declined by 16.2 percent…

Teachers' use of student data to inform instruction is commonly accepted as sound educational practice, and this data use is only likely to grow as more data, as well as more-complex data, become increasingly available to educators. However, numerous studies reveal inconsistent data use among teachers and an overall lack of the preparation and…

There is no comprehensive database of U.S. district-level test scores that is comparable across states. We describe and evaluate a method for constructing such a database. First, we estimate linear, reliability-adjusted linking transformations from state test score scales to the scale of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). We…

There is extensive research on the benefits of making data-informed decisions to improve learning, but these benefits rely on the data being effectively interpreted. Despite educators' above-average intellect and education levels, there is evidence many educators routinely misinterpret student data. Data analysis problems persist even at districts…

The interpretation of single-case data requires systematic visual analysis across and within conditions. Graphs are a vital component for analyzing and communicating single-case design data and a necessary tool for applied researchers and practitioners. Several articles have been published with task analyses for graphing data with the new versions…

The Interlibrary Loan department at the University of Mississippi wished to examine interlibrary loan borrowing data dating back to the implementation of the ILLiad system in August 2001 in order to determine why the number of cancellations due to local availability continues to increase. The patron information was extracted in an attempt to…

Explains how libraries can use data mining techniques for more effective data collection. Highlights include three phases: data selection and acquisition; data preparation and processing, including a discussion of the use of XML (extensible markup language); and data interpretation and integration, including database management systems. (LRW)

Computer-based management systems offer an efficient means of recording, categorizing, and summarizing data on student discipline. This article furnishes basic information on developing student files, entering data, and generating meaningful reports, such as individual student profiles, date and period frequency, student referral distribution, and…

Discusses a "silent menace" in school computer rooms--the potential misuse of databases containing student directories, teacher salary information, test scores, and other data. Describes administrative computer uses and possible abuses, including invasion of privacy, false correlations between data sets, and manipulation of data for questionable…

Describes the way a relational database management system manages a large historical data collection project. Shows that such databases are practical to construct. States that the programing tasks involved are not for beginners, but the rewards of having data organized are worthwhile. (GG)

Database Tomography (DT) is a textual database-analysis system consisting of algorithms for extracting multiword phrase frequencies and proximities from a large textual database, to augment interpretative capabilities of the expert human analyst. Describes use of the DT process, supplemented by literature bibliometric analyses, to derive technical…

In the Philadelphia Public Schools, a computer system called Data to Success has been created to assess student progress prior to end-of-year testing. The five-stage system allows a school to influence teacher decisions, identify student warning signs, and monitor important trend and analysis information throughout the school year. (MLH)

A data-management system adhering to seven principles (concerned with defining and measuring characteristics and their interrelationships) is feasible and exists in parts, if not as an integrated whole. Present data-collection and reportage systems lack the real-time, analytic longitudinal characteristics that contemporary technology promises and…

This book offers guidelines for action research, a process in which teachers experiment with various strategies at the classroom level. Action research is the process of systematically evaluating the consequences of educational decisions and adjusting practices to maximize effectiveness. Essentially the examination of one's own practice, it…

Discusses data warehousing, which provides information more fully responsive to local, state, and federal data needs. Such a system allows educators to generate reports and analyses that supply information, provide accountability, explore relationships among different kinds of data, and inform decision-makers. (Contains one figure and eight…