THE NATONAL COURT STATISTICS PROJECT DEVISED A NEW CLASSIFICATION SCHEME BY CONSTRUCTING A MODEL ANNUAL REPORT AND DICTIONARY (DEFINING ALL TERMS WITH INSTRUCTIONS ON THEIR USE) OF NATIONAL CASELOAD STATISTICS, BOTH CONTAINING MODEL CLASSIFICATION SCHEMES FOR REPORTING FILINGS AND DISPOSITIONS OF ALL COURT CASES. CASELOAD CLASSIFICATIONS WERE BASED ON THE SUBJECT AT ISSUE IN EACH REPORTED CASE TO CREATE A PARADIGM EMBRACING ALL CIVIL AND CRIMINAL CASE TYPES. TRAFFIC CASES, HOWEVER, WERE SEPARATED FROM CRIMINAL FOR CLARITY'S SAKE. CASE CATEGORIES USED BY THE JUVENILE CRIME OFFICE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE WERE ADOPTED FOR UNIFORMITY. NATURAL PATTERNS FOUND AMONG THE TERMINOLOGY USED BY THE STATES WERE MOLDED INTO CLEAR, COMPLETE, EASILY-USED CLASSIFICATION SCHEMES. THE ANNUAL REPORT AND DICTIONARY WERE GIVEN TO COURT PERSONNEL ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO REVIEW AND TEST; THEIR INPUT SHOULD BE INCORPORATED INTO CLASSIFICATION SCHEMES. THE MODEL CLASSIFICATION SCHEMES ARE NOT COMPULSORY STANDARDS TO BE ADOPTED BY STATES, BUT MODELS TO HELP COURTS REVISE THEIR REPORTING SYSTEMS AND MEANS FOR MAKING NATIONAL CASELOAD COMPARISONS. AN EXAMPLE FROM THE MODEL ANNUAL REPORT IS INCLUDED. (PAP)