Today’s management information systems (MIS) software, like the River Jordan, is deep and wide. There’ll only be milk and honey on the other side, though, if someone in the school not only understands just what the software’s capable of, but also has the management skills to link that understanding first to the needs of the staff, and ultimately to the teaching and learning needs of the students. Up until recently MIS was primarily an admin tool - Jsomething to make life easier on the top corridor. The coming of SATs and other tests has changed the picture entirely by giving schools lots of information on pupil performance. Handled with care and understanding, this knowledge can help teachers plan what to do next in the classroom.

Many schools, though, never really get the best out of their MIS software. One reason is that as MIS first made its mark in the school office, it’s sometimes rooted there. As other modules and features have been added, the admin staff have been expected to make them work, and they haven’t always had the time or the expertise to do it. The packages which are intended to store and analyse performance data are tools for heads and teachers rather than for administrators and finance managers.

Margaret Bell, ICT consultant and trainer with Belle Associates, says that as a result: “Schools often don’t have the kind of management data that other businesses have to help them know how well they are doing. There should be good data available to teachers and that’s a big step for them to take and understand.”

Teachers aren’t necessarily Luddites, though. There are good reasons why they should be cautious about entering what the enthusiasts call “a data-rich environment”. They are rightly reluctant to spend hours on an exercise unless they know it will have an effect in the classroom.

The priority for school management teams therefore, is to make performance data into a real working tool for teachers. One school that’s taken up this challenge is Ashlawn, a 1,450-pupil comprehensive in Warwickshire, where senior management have worked both on the collection of data and on controlling its flow from person to person. The key to the system is a “Data Calendar” - Ja document, devised in the school, that guides teachers through the year, setting out what performance data they’re going to collect. The calendar also sets out for senior colleagues what data they will be receiving, and when, and how it’s to be handled or passed on. The whole process is transparent and as the calendar process works through it ensures that what emerges provides a clear picture of student performance. Deputy head Jackie Heffernen calls it “taming the data,” and says, “We want to avoid being inundated with data flying around that’s actually inert. The calendar builds up into a document that informs key stage managers’ strategy for raising achievement.”

Ashlawn chose Bromcom’s electronic system for gathering information and, in common with other Warwickshire schools, uses Sims Assessment Manager, but they’re still looking for better ways to handle data exactly as they want. “We’re using our own Excel-based system at the moment,” says Heffernen, “But we have to do a lot of work to make it suit our needs.”

She’s not the only senior teacher who’s looking for something different. Chris Connearn, deputy head at Etone School in Nuneaton says: “We need more simple, easy to use packages that teachers can explore in lots of different ways - Jlooking at a cohort, identifying who are the high attainers, tracking individuals.”

Connearn is also interested in taming the data. Part of her approach is to make sure the school provides good administrative support for teachers. “We’re about to appoint a data manager,” she says. “So we’re not asking teachers to do all the data analysis themselves.”

A problem that’s bedevilled schools right from the start of the computer revolution is the separation between admin and curriculum IT. For years this was just an irritation, but now it can be a major stumbling block, as teachers need to be able to get at performance data. Belle Associates’ Bell says, “The first priority is to get the admin and curriculum networks together, so teachers can access both from one machine. They worry about security, but there are companies with highly sensitive data who have effective firewalls.”

At local authority level, it helps if curriculum advisers and MIS support teams work together. This is happening in Derbyshire, for example, where two years ago a committee of headteachers chose Phoenix to replace the authority’s in-house MIS system. Education adviser Brian Richards says: “We were interested in going in at an early stage with the assessment managing side of it - Jwe wanted to get the mechanics of the system out of the way so that teachers could engage with the real issues - Jforecasting, target setting, monitoring individuals and cohorts.” Now Brian Richards and his team are engaged in helping schools to pilot AssessIT - Jwhich along with MarkIT and SummIT is specifically intended to help teachers make the best use of the data in their school’s existing management system.

MIS Systems

Bromcom BETT stand: C20 www.bromcom.com

Sims from Capita. BETT stands: H34 amp; D20 www.capitaes.co.uk

Facility CMIS from CCM software. BETT stand: B72 www.ccmsoftware.com

Pupiltrack from Doran Essen Consultants. BETT stand: SW85 www.pupiltrack.co.uk

Goal PLC (online assessment) BETT stand: A70 www.goalplc.co.uk

Phoenix from Phoenix First BETT stand: M45 www.phoenix-software.co.uk

AssessIT, MarkIT, and SummIT BETT stand: M45 (Phoenix) www.summitforschools.co.uk

RM Management Solutions BETT stand: D50 www.rm.com

Pasapp from Wauton Samuel http:wautonsamuel.co.uk