School administrators, researchers, and advocacy groups will soon have access to what is believed to be the most comprehensive set of data on students and schools ever produced. The "School District Data Book," a project funded by the federal government and set to be released this summer, is expected to include extensive information from the 1990 Census, the Census Bureau’s school-finance data, and the Education Department’s Common Core of Data. Unlike previous versions of such databases, which were limited and only available on difficult-to-use data tapes, all of the information in the new system will be packaged on CD-ROMs, a disk-based technology that allows anyone with a personal computer and disk player to access it.
The goal is to make it easy for anyone to retrieve the data they need. George Grier, a statistician with the MESA Group, the firm producing the electronic book for the Education Department, explained that users will be able to find information about districts’ staffing patterns, enrollments, and finances compared to other districts in the state and the nation within seconds. The package will also enable administrators to make projections about their schools’ populations based on the characteristics of children and private school populations in the area. Additionally, it will allow users to create maps showing their districts according to various factors. Mr. Grier added that users can also add other information, such as district data on facilities and student achievement, to the system.
The $5.2 million project to develop the data book is part of the National Center for Education Statistics’ effort to make information about schools and students more widely accessible. Roger A. Herriot, an associate commissioner of the center, explained that the N.C.E.S. is required by law to report every 10 years on the social and economic characteristics of children and school districts. However, they wanted to make the data useful to a larger audience. The system became possible due to advances in technology that allowed the data to be stored on CD-ROMs. Each disk can hold the same amount of information as 300,000 pages of text. The entire package will be contained on nine to 20 disks and can be used with standard hardware that costs around $2,500.
Carl Friedman, a computer science professor at the University of the District of Columbia and a member of the MESA Group, reassured that the system is designed to be user-friendly. While there will be training and a manual available, most users will be able to operate the system by following on-screen instructions. The N.C.E.S. plans to market the data book to various entities, including Congress, libraries, education laboratories, education agencies, school districts, and researchers. Rural-education researchers have expressed particular interest in the project since information on small districts is often hard to find. The MESA Group is also considering developing an online system to directly access the data without using compact disks, depending on demand.
