EL CAJON – An information-gathering system that local educators say has improved how students are taught will soon be used in other areas around the state.

Thanks to a three-year, $1.5 million state grant, 18 other California counties will now participate in a computer-generated student data program called Cal-PASS, or the California Partnership for Achieving Student Success project.

The program began with a $30,000 pilot project in San Diego County in 1998.

"Good, usable information wanted and needed by teachers is now available," said Omero Suarez, chancellor of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District.

The program is based at Grossmont College in El Cajon, where director Brad Phillips is responsible for gathering data from public school systems, community colleges and universities.

Phillips said the data include information about students' demographic background, what classes they took, their grades, whether they graduated and what degree they earned.

Educators use the data collected to examine curriculum, teacher training and textbooks, and provide a more consistent education from elementary school through college, state Sen. Dede Alpert said.

"Education should be a seamless system for the students," she said. "The way to do that is to use the data we have available."

Ryan Griffith, an English teacher at Grossmont College, said the data helped show that high school teachers were emphasizing reading novels in their English classes, while the community colleges put more emphasis on writing essays. High school English teachers are now asked to include more nonfiction writing in their classes, he said.

"We take these things back to our classrooms immediately," he said.