Related NCES Publications
More information about these publications can be found through the links provided.

Technology @ Your Fingertips
A Guide to Implementing Technology Solutions
for Education Agencies and Institutions
(available online at http://nces.ed.gov/pubs98/tech )

Technology @ Your Fingertips describes a process for getting the best possible technology solution for an education organization. It presents a step-by-step approach to identifying an organization's technology needs, evaluating its options, and acquiring and implementing its solution. The document does not dictate specific equipment and software that must be purchased. Rather, it arms its readers with a process they can use to customize technology solutions to their organization's specific needs.

The book is not aimed at "technical" staff who may already be familiar with many of the concepts and much of the information it contains. The guidelines are, instead, intended for those who have been given the responsibility of purchasing and installing computers and networking technology for an education organization (or the responsibility of supervising computers and network technology once they have already been established). The guidelines are expected to be of most use to persons in schools or districts. However, they are also applicable to other types of education settings, including colleges, universities, libraries, and state education agencies.

Because the world of technology is very broad, the document focuses on computer and networking technology--primarily software used to meet administrative and instructional needs, and the hardware, networking, and support to allow it to function properly. It also addresses budgetary and human resources concerns. It is written in non-technical language and includes references to numerous other resources.

Technology in Schools
Suggestions, Tools and Guidelines for Assessing Technology in Elementary and Secondary Education
(available online at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2003313)

This guide was written by the National Forum on Education Statistics under NCES's Cooperative Education Statistics System. Directed toward state and local education agencies, it describes how to measure technology use by examining planning and policies; finance; equipment and infrastructure; technology applications; maintenance and support; professional development; and technology integration.

Building an Automated Student Record System
(available online at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2000324 )

The purpose of this document, developed by the National Forum on Education Statistics (NFES), is to provide a stand-alone guide for local and state education agencies faced with the task of designing a new or upgrading an existing automated student information system. While based on a chapter from the Student Data Handbook for Elementary, Secondary, and Early Childhood Education, this guide contains additional information from a variety of resources, most of which are cited in the text. Included in the contents are guidelines, checklists, and real-life examples.

Protecting the Privacy of Student Records
Guidelines for Education Agencies
(available online at http.//nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=97527 )

School districts maintain and use personal information for a variety of educational purposes. Students and their parents entrust schools with their personal information with the expectation it will be used to serve the students effectively and efficiently. To protect the privacy of families whose children are in school, states and the federal government have established strong legal statutes to secure information that schools maintain in student education records. Thus, agency and school staff are not only ethically, but also legally, responsible for safeguarding student information in order to protect the privacy of students and their families.

Protecting the Privacy of Student Records was written to help state and local education agencies and schools develop adequate policies and procedures to protect information about students and their families from improper release, while still satisfying the need for school officials to make sound management, instructional, and service decisions. Suggested audiences include state education agency staff, state and local policy-makers, school district staff, school administrators and staff, program and support services staff, technical staff, and teachers and other school-based support professionals.