The Office of Inspector General responded to a joint request by the House and Senate to update them on its audit, investigation, and inspection efforts on the most significant challenges facing the Department of Education for the October 1, 2000 to March 31, 2001 period. These challenges include improving financial management; improving the management of information technology; strengthening systems security; designing and implementing effective internal systems controls for preventing fraud, waste, and abuse; ensuring that correct measures are selected to place appropriate focus on program performance and that data sources for measures are of sufficient quality; developing and implementing the Student Financial Assistance systems Modernization Blueprint; moving the Department of Education to a paperless environment; balancing compliance monitoring and technical assistance to meet accountability and flexibility needs; and obtaining income verification from the Internal Revenue Service to prevent fraud. Appendices include recommendations not completed in earlier reports; audit service reports on Education Department programs and activities; audit reports issued by the Inspector General with questioned costs and recommendations for better use of funds; unresolved reports issued prior to October 1, 2000; cumulative actions of investigative services; collections from audits and investigations; and a statistical profile of audit and investigative results for the October 1, 2000 to March 31, 2001 period. (RT).

A brief narrative description of the journal article, document, or resource. This document contains a semiannual report on the activities of the Department of Education's Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the 6-month period ending March 31, 1996. It highlights the Office's significant accomplishments and activities, including: (1) a series of audit reports to aid reauthorization of the Rehabilitation Act; (2) cooperation with other Education Department offices to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; (3) cooperative audit resolutions; (4) other cooperative efforts with the audit and education communities; (5) audit quality issues: settlement in nonfederal audit suit; (6) examples of OIG effectiveness in postsecondary education; (7) financial statement audits; (8) asset forfeiture; and (9) initiatives conducted at Congressional request. Three abstracts highlight significant audits and audit-related activities, significant prosecutive actions resulting from OIG investigations, and initiatives conducted in response to Congressional requests. A table lists P.L. 95-452 reporting requirements. A glossary of abbreviations and the following six statistical tables are included: (1) recommendations described in previous "Semiannual Reports" on which corrective action has not been completed; (2) Department of Education (ED)/OIG reports on education department programs and activities (October 1, 1995-March 31, 1996); (3) Inspector General issued reports with questioned costs; (4) Inspector General issued reports with recommendations for better use of funds; (5) Unresolved reports issues prior to October 1, 1995; and (6) Statistical summary, October 1, 1995-March 31, 1996). (LMI).