Schools, in common with other dynamic institutions, are now replete with data gathered in many ways and expressed as graphs, columns, tables of figures.
When, in the 1990s, this flow of data started to become a flood, the value of all these graphs and columns was recognised immediately. The numbers could indicate, quickly and clearly, where there were weaknesses to be addressed and strengths to build upon.
People even then were talking about the “data-driven school” - if you want to know what to do next, the numbers will tell you. Gradually this term was overtaken by the slightly less mechanistic “data-enabled school”, and now “data-informed” seems about right - the leaders lead, the managers manage, the teachers teach, and all have data at their fingertips that feeds into decisions for which they take professional responsibility.
Information overload
The downside was that, as time went on, schools began to collect more information than they were able to use effectively. They were, to use another common phrase, drowning in data.
What they needed was a supplementary application which would dig into the numbers, find what was essential for current and forward planning, and present it clearly to the decision-makers. A number of highly reputable suppliers have been doing this for some years now, showing that there’s a real problem to be solved.
The difficulty, though, is that existing data-handling software is usually designed to take the data from one source - most often, the school’s proprietary management information system (MIS). Even then, it’s not always easy, or possible, to tailor the analytics to the specific needs of the school.
Microsoft’s Power BI, however, does a great deal more than simply drill into MIS data. It aggregates information from multiple sources, presenting and analysing it in whatever way seems appropriate: lists, graphs, pie charts, bar charts. The key lies in its use of bespoke “dashboards” - screens which provide access to underlying data.
Matthew Woodruff is managing director of Coscole Ltd, which works closely with a number of Microsoft Showcase Schools and multi-academy trusts. He says: “We can provide specific dashboards for Ofsted, governors, senior leadership, the education welfare officer. We can edit these environments and build them specifically to [schools’] needs. You can’t do that with some of the other analytics.”
Multi-tasking tool
It is arguable that Power BI’s attributes show to best advantage when used in the leadership and management of a multi-academy trust (MAT): these trusts face the particular challenge of maintaining an overview across the member schools, making comparisons, and seeking points for intervention or development.
That’s certainly the plan at Shireland Collegiate Academy, which is in the process of joining a MAT. Deputy head Alan Crawford is working alongside Woodruff to take full advantage of Power BI.
“We’ve been looking to aggregate data across the MAT - a one-stop shop with lots of dashboards, able to surface relevant data in real time, and easy to change if you decide you need another metric,” Crawford says.
“We can pull up data on finance, attendance, behaviour, staff lesson observations, sickness records, all at our fingertips. We feel it’s really powerful and it doesn’t mean that schools have to have the same MIS - Power BI can pull in the data from any of them.”
Telling the right story
Because Power BI started as a business application, it’s natural that it would be used to support the responsibilities of management and leadership. However, it has a role to play in the core business of teaching and learning.
“We can also use it for learning, to see where you need to go next,” Crawford says. Shireland is currently using Power BI in running a pilot on learning analytics in the maths department to help teachers reach a deeper level of understanding of children’s performance and further needs.
The aim in schools has always been to turn the mass of data sitting in the cloud or on its computers into usable information. That’s never been easy. All too often, something emerges after a great deal of work which is still a step away from total clarity.
Power BI, however, closes that gap, and it does it by using the data to tell stories. This, in turn, means that MAT leaders, senior teachers and classroom practitioners have at their fingertips the information that will support them in their decision-making.
All too often, people experience a sinking feeling when they switch on their computers or other devices and contemplate a forest of numbers. With Power BI, there’s a good chance that they’ll be filled with anticipation instead, as well as the knowledge that the technology will tell them the stories they want, and need, to hear.
Gerald Haigh is an education writer and author of 15 books on educational management issues, and was a teacher for 28 years
