By examining large, computer-readable databases at the federal, regional, and state level, this report addresses the degree to which data collected by the state education agencies can be used to describe the condition of rural education. The states covered in this report are Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Nationally, the National Center for Education Statistics' Common Core of Data and the Schools and Staffing Survey provide comparable state, multistate or regional, and national information on schools, students, teachers, and administrators. These databases do not include information on curriculum and transportation. Each of the seven states in the report have unique data systems and collect different data elements that do not allow for developing a multistate regional picture. Data flow in state education agencies is decentralized, traveling from the school or district level to a regional education service area, and then to the state education agency. The flow of data back to the local education agencies is limited. Pupil accounting systems, if implemented, use the student as the unit of analysis from which state reporting requirements can be drawn. These systems are interactive with the state education agency and other local education agencies. There is a pressing need for research on and development of an information management system. A clearinghouse on rural education databases was considered but determined to be premature at this time. (KS)