This paper suggests methods for collecting and using student information for school improvement by describing how the Richardson Independent School District (RISD), Texas, determines data for effective school management decisionmaking. RISD readily accesses student information via a networked database on line with the central office's IBM mainframe and administrators' personal computers. District schools may quickly access the Richardson Instructional Management System (RIMS) on the TI 990 minicomputer via telecables or phone lines (using 2400-baud modems). Permanent records, secondary attendance, individual schedules, grades, standardized test scores, and demographics are maintained in mainframe files. The information that RIMS generates has several applications: first, these files interface with programs that show student mobility and identify at-risk and advanced students. Thus teachers can effectively diagnose and prescribe learning remediation or enhancement once they order the student data. Second, because students and teachers are identified by identification numbers, mailing labels are easily generated for research and evaluation surveys that may perhaps analyze efficient and effective teaching and learning. More applications for the system are presently being researched in a newly formed collaboration with six other ISDs and the graduate school of education at Texas A & M University. (JAM)