Severe methodological problems were encountered in an attempt to investigate the impact of Education Division programs on girls and women--and, in particular, to learn whether these programs have a differential impact by sex or by race/ethnicity. (The "Education Division" comprises the Office of Education, the National Institute of Education, the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, the National Center for Education Statistics, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary.) The division remains in June 1977 unable to report fully and accurately what types of data are available by sex or by-sex-by-race/ethnicity. Gathering and reporting more kinds of data disaggregated by sex and by-sex-by-race/ethnicity is only the first step. Effective procedures also do not exist within the division for (1) analyzing the data and reporting them in a way that is meaningful to decision makers, (2) bringing the data to the attention of the appropriate decision makers, and (3) acting upon the data. Funding shortages and cutbacks have affected much related high-priority research. (In response to the problems identified, specific recommendations are addressed to specific groups within the Education Division for the generation and utilization of information necessary to the improvement of equity for women.) (JT)