美国高等教育数据库的建设及其启示

Construction of American Higher Education Database and its Enlightenment

美国联邦教育部非常重视教育数据资料的釆集工作,采集数据资料具有悠久的历史。本文阐释了美国联邦教育部建设的高等教育数据库(IPEDS)的结构和功能,以及其数据采集制度。此外,概述了AAUP、NSSE等几项高等教育专题数据库的结构和运作方式,最后,给出了对我国高等教育数据库建设的若干启示:一、依据所需建设的数据库的性质区分数据库建设主体;二、依据数据库建设的目的确立各类高等教育数据库的功能;三、系统规划各类高等教育数据库的结构和指标体系;四、建立数据库共享机制,最大程度的发挥各类高等教育数据库资源的社会效益。

It is a long-term tradition and important mission for the Department of Education of United States to collect data and statistics.Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System(IPEDS)was established in 1986 and became a comprehensive higher education database since.This essay introduced the structure,functions and data collecting process of IPEDS.It also descripted several special databases with single subject,such as AAUP and NSSE,and their structures and operating process.To develop and enhance the higher education database in China,following could be considered:a、develop a comprehensive database by the government agency while developing several special databases by universities;b、define the categories and functions of each database clearly;c、set up the requirements and standardized calculations for data collection in order to obtain high quality data;and d、open all database systems to public to maximize their usage.