The project is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Silvia and her colleagues have completed the first year of the project, which involved developing and pilot-testing an electronic reporting system that addresses the new federal reporting requirements and combines other state requests for data. As part of the planning process, RTI convened a stakeholder's meeting to establish standard definitions and terms for complying with federal reporting requirements. The RTI team also conducted statewide workshops to train school districts in the use of the new system and to provide technical assistance. To make reporting easier, we developed a program written in Microsoft Access that is very user friendly.
School districts can choose between paper and electronic versions of reporting.
Not surprisingly, more than 90 percent chose the electronic version. A web-based system will have several advantages, she explained. Schools will be able to download reports of the data they submit, and they'll be able to view aggregated statewide data. She and her colleagues are training staff in the S.D. Department of Education and Cultural Affairs to use data from the system to plan and evaluate programs and activities. Copyright 1998 Research Triangle Institute.