The "Forum Guide to Metadata" presents and examines the ways in which metadata can be used by education agencies to improve data quality and promote a better understanding of education data. Supported by metadata-related case studies from state and local education agencies, the guide highlights the uses of metadata from a technical point of view, as well as the perspectives of data management, data reporting and use, and data privacy and security. The guide further discusses how to plan and successfully implement a metadata system in an education setting and provides examples of standard metadata items and definitions to assist agencies with standardization. Chapter 1 introduces the concept of metadata, or data about data, especially as related to education agencies and education data systems, and discusses metadata as a critical element of sound data management. Chapter 1 continues with a discussion of the benefits of metadata and an examination of an education metadata system and its common components. Chapter 2 focuses on the varied uses of metadata from perspectives including technical metadata, data management metadata, data reporting and use metadata, privacy metadata, and business rules. Chapter 3 discusses planning processes that contribute to the successful implementation of a metadata system in an education setting. Finally, Chapter 4 is composed of metadata-related case studies highlighting the challenges, complexities, and lessons learned from metadata management experiences at the state education agency (SEA) and local education agency (LEA) levels. [For the 2009 version of this guide, see ED507747.]