For twenty-nine years, Red Clay Consolidated School District has managed data processing in a unique manner. Red Clay participates in the Data Service Center consortium to provide data management and processing services. This consortium is more independent than a department in the district but not as autonomous as an outsourced arrangement. While…

A series of observations is made regarding the potential impact of the Remotely Accessible Management System (RAMS) upon the administrative structure of the Pontiac, Michigan City School System. Nine major results of the district wide needs assessment are reported, and evidence is advanced to support the conclusion that modern educational…

The Montgomery County, Maryland Public Schools, working with Operations Research, Incorporated, developed a Pupil Master File (PLMF). PLMF is one of the several applications included within the Pupil Subsystem of the district's overall computerized School Information System. The PLMF is designed to provide: 1) a master file which enables users to…

In an effort to shed light on the questions surrounding the use and impact of computer-based information systems, the Special Projects Division of the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium undertook a field-based study of a computer-based information system that can process and produce information dealing with students, curriculum, personnel,…

To support the position that the use of computers can make educational administration more cost-effective, the minicomputer-based information system in the Ridgeway Public School District in New Jersey is described. A model of the information system is included. (JJD)

School districts need a strategic, comprehensive, electronic data processing resources plan that would include the following major elements: (1) systems; (2) hardware; (3) software; (4) staffing; (5) control; and (6) projected budgets. (MLF)

Directed to local superintendents of schools and local coordinators who desire assistance in developing and implementing student information systems in their districts, this guide summarizes material presented in the Alabama State Department of Education's LEA Basic Data Systems: A Manual of Developmental Activities. It describes Alabama's…

Intended to assist school administrators in developing both student information systems and total information systems, this guide contains suggestions which, when considered in terms of local characteristics and concerns, can be used to create such systems to support administrative decision making, state and federal reporting, guidance, research,…

Oakland Schools, an Intermediate School District for Administration, operates a Remotely Accessible Management System (RAMS). RAMS is composed of over 100 computer programs, each of which performs procedures on the files of the 28 local school districts comprising the constituency of Oakland Schools. This regional service agency covers 900 square…

In 1969 the Saginaw, Michigan City School System affiliated with the Remotely Accessible Management System (RAMS) developed by the Oakland Schools, a regional service agency. The affiliation enabled Saginaw to move into computerized data processing with minimal costs for programing personnel, systems specialists, hardware, software, and operating…

Recent changes in the structure of curriculum and the instructional system in Texas have required a major reorganization of teaching, evaluating, budgeting, and planning activities in the local education agencies, which has created the need for a database. The history of Richardson Instructional Management System (RIMS), its data processing…

Some school districts are privatizing data-processing operations. In addition to commercial firms, local county or city governments can be contracted to run districts' computer operations. Advantages cited include more computing power for the money, personnel savings, and helping school districts concentrate on educating children. (MLF)

A Management Operations Review and Evaluation (MORE) study of the Department of Management Information and Computer Services, which was completed in the fall of 1980, strongly recommended that the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) develop a long-range plan to meet the computer needs of schools and central offices. In response to this…

This publication describes the development and implementation of a school district financial accounting system based on the concepts and guidelines of the National Center for Education Statistics Handbook II, Revised. The system described was designed by school district personnel to utilize computer equipment and to meet the accounting and…

The development of a computer-based instructional management system for the Duluth, Minnesota school system is described. The project is designed to relate observed or measured student learning in cognitive and affective areas to the costs of instructional services. Individual student data are used for the cost-effectiveness analyses supported by…