For decades, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms were processed electronically by the legacy Central Processing System. In 2021 the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) initiated a system development effort and in December 2023 deployed a new system to process forms for the 2024-2025 school year. However, student aid…

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the entry ramp to federal grants and loans that many students depend on to afford college. Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act in 2020 in part to make it easier to apply for federal aid. However, Education's rollout of the new FAFSA has suffered from numerous challenges and delays.…

Students, policymakers and institutions all need to have high quality data about how today's students access and pay for higher education--and what contributes to their success. But the data that are available now are woefully inadequate. We need to improve the national postsecondary data infrastructure The report thoroughly explores seven options…

The launch of HealthCare.gov, the website of the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare), was a major public relations disaster for the Obama administration. This case examines some of the factors that contributed to the failure of the launch and then details how Optum, an information technology service provider, considered the opportunity provided by…

Until recently, states focused on ensuring the presence of a "highly qualified teacher" in every classroom. Under the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), this title described a teacher holding at least a bachelor's degree and the appropriate state license and…

The main goals of this implementation study were to: (1) examine how the grant recipients were implementing the changes set forth in their grant proposals; (2) identify initial barriers to implementation of grant activities; (3) identify catalysts that aided in goal attainment and/or partnership development; and (4) consider the sustainability of…

This fall, the nine states that finished as runners up in last year's groundbreaking Race to the Top competition will have an opportunity to reapply for a grant. The winners will receive a combined $200 million to help implement the bold education reform plans they developed last year. Many of the eligible states already have clear roadmaps toward…

In a 2012 paper for the Center for American Progress, "The State of Evaluation Reform," Patrick McGuinn (Drew University) identified the opportunities and challenges facing education agencies in Race to the Top (RTTT) grant-winning states as they prepared for the implementation of new teacher evaluation systems. The 2012 study undertook…

At present there is no comprehensive source of data regarding educational technology. Base-line statistical information on collections and equipment, as well as their unique impact on other institutional cost factors, must be established if there is to be adequate evaluation of their impact on instructional practices. This report defines the field…

In this book, originally presented as the third series of H. Rowan Gaither Lectures in Systems Science at the University of California (Berkeley), are examined the contributions that systematic analysis has made to decision making in the government's "social action" programs--education, health, manpower training, and income maintenance. Drawing on…

A history of educators' concern with systematic production and utilization of educational knowledge (KPU) since the beginning of the century is presented. The influence of Paul Mort on the KPU tradition from the 1930's to the 1960's, and of Federal policies on educational research and dissemination since the 1960's is investigated. (Author/MJB)

The paper provides the basic concepts and structure of an evaluative-management information system that meets the needs of vocational rehabilitation program and project managers and allows inter- and intra-program and project comparisons. Cost-benefit analysis has not (1) provided managers with relevant information upon which to base their…

STATE- AND FEDERAL-LEVEL DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS WERE DEVELOPED FOR A SYSTEM CAPABLE OF COLLECTING AND REDUCING NATIONWIDE STATISTICAL DATA ON VOCATIONAL EDUCATION. THESE SPECIFICATIONS WERE EXPECTED TO PROVIDE THE BASIS FOR THE ADOPTION BY ALL STATES OF AN INFORMATION REPORTING SYSTEM THAT WOULD MEET BOTH PRESENT AND FUTURE FEDERAL REPORTING…

THE COLLECTION, PROCESSING, SYNTHESIZING, AND DISSEMINATION OF DATA ON THE PROGRESS OF ALL EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM (ES) '70 PROGRAMS IS AN ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT IN ACHIEVING THE PROGRAMS' OBJECTIVES. THESE PROGRAMS EMBRACE 17 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN THE PRIMARY NETWORK ALONE AND ARE BASED ON A UNIQUE APPROACH OF "LOCAL-STATE-FEDERAL…

THE DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS NECESSARY TO DEVELOP A FEDERAL-LEVEL, VOCATIONAL EDUCATION INFORMATION SYSTEM (VEIS), WERE PRESENTED IN THIS MANUAL. BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS WERE DETERMINED BY STUDYING THE FEDERAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR EACH STATE AND BY EVALUATING A NUMBER OF IMMEDIATE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS WITHIN THE FEDERAL…