Since the creation of the National Cooperative Educational Statistics System in 1988, states have joined with the National Center for Education Statistics to produce and maintain comparable and uniform education statistics. Through the National Forum on Education Statistics, states have met to develop and propose a set of basic data elements for voluntary use. Using these data elements will provide more comparable and reliable education information for any educational system adopting the common terminology. The basic data elements will not meet every education information purpose, but a set of basic data elements should help answer the most frequently asked questions about the administration, status, quality, operation, and performance of schools and school systems. This report presents a process for selecting and including new data elements in an information system and the student and staff elements that can be used to create information for conducting the day-to-day administration of schools and school districts; completing federal and state reports, and creating indicators that address questions about the success and functioning of education systems. The basic data elements selected for student information systems are grouped into categories of: (1) personal information; (2) enrollment; (3) school participation and activities; (4) assessment; (5) transportation; (6) health conditions, special program participation, and student support services; and (7) discipline. Similar elements defined for staff information systems include personal information, educational background, qualification information, current employment, assignments, and information on career development and separation from employment. An appendix contains discussions of policy questions, indicators, and basic data elements. (SLD)

This handbook establishes current and consistent terms, definitions, and classification codes to maintain, collect, report, and exchange comparable information about students. The handbook is useful to public and private agencies and educational institutions, researchers, policy makers, and members of the public interested in student data. The definitions are consistent with current state and local practice, national standards movements, and federal reporting requirements as a consensus of what is considered "best practice" in data collection. The Handbook includes these chapters: (1) "Introduction"; (2) "The Handbook"; (3) "Building a Student Record System"; (4) "Data Elements and Definitions"; and (5) "Applications of the Handbook." Twelve appendixes present comprehensive lists of coding options, code designations, and the names of contributors to this edition. (SLD)