Technology for School Leadership Chapter 4 Technology for School Leadership

Outline Knowledge is Power The Age of Knowledge Major Education Administrative Applications Databases Electronic Spreadsheets Office Automation Specialized Administrative Applications Integrating It Together: Data-Driven Decision Making 2

Knowledge is Power “Expert power” = having access to critical information about one’s organization and environment. “Expert power” is a requisite to successful leadership among managers. French and Raven (1959)

The Age of Knowledge The “information age” is evolving into the “age of knowledge.” Educated people and their ideas, facilitated by information technology, leads to societal well being and great change in institutions. (Duderstadt, 1997)

Major Education Administrative Applications Databases Electronic Spreadsheets Office Automation

Databases Database applications are by far the most important administrative applications developed in a school or school district. Databases help people manage the school’s information, through: Data elements Records Files

Database Database = a collection of information files and records The five parts in a database, from most simple to most complex, are the character, the data element, the data record, the data file, and the database. A character consists of a single letter of the alphabet (A through Z), a single digit (0 through 9), or a single special character (such as $, %, +). A data element (also referred to as a data field) groups these characters to describe a person, place, or thing. Examples of data elements include birth date, gender, father’s name, family income, grade, course number, or room number.

Databases A data record consists of a collection of related data elements for a single entity (a person, place, or thing). Examples of data records include the personal record of an individual employee, the inventory record of a single piece of scientific equipment, or the transcript record of an individual student. A data file is a collection of related data records. For example, the records of all employees would comprise a personnel file, or the records of all students would comprise a student file.

Databases A database is a collection of data files and records; for example: A single collection of files, such as a student database or personnel database multiple collections of files, such as a school district's database, which could include student, personnel, course (or curriculum), financial, and facilities files A database management system is a program package that allows the user to create, maintain, and access the data on a database. Examples of database management systems: Oracle (for large computer systems) Microsoft Access (for microcomputer systems)

Databases Database management system software Student database Student master Transcript Attendance Grades Test scores Schedules Database management system software Personnel database Personnel master History Course assignments Evaluations Scholarly activities Publications Curriculum database Course master Scheduling Curriculum revisions Financial database Budget Payroll Purchasing Accounts payable Accounts receivable Accounting Facilities database Space inventory Space use Equipment inventory Supplies inventory Energy management Work-order processing

Electronic Spreadsheets Electronic spreadsheets are popular for work that requires frequent analysis and manipulation of numbers: budgets, accounting, enrollment projections, test scores. Great for planning and modeling!

Electronic Spreadsheets Student Enrollment projections District School Class Grade analysis Test-score analysis Electronic spreadsheet software Personnel Salary projections Staffing projections Affirmative action reporting Retirement projections Sick leave analysis Curriculum Course projections Course grade analysis Scheduling analysis Course requirements analysis Financial Budget projections Department budget Cash flow analysis Revenue projections Facilities Space summary reports Equipment cost analysis Supplies cost analysis Construction Project timetable Cash flow management

Electronic Spreadsheets

Office Automation Automation now means more than just word processing! You can use word processing with overall communications tools and integrate it into a “suite” of administrative software packages: Desktop publishing Electronic mail Voice mail Databases You can use word processing to create and edit text, while using these other software tools to print, report, and communicate the text to other people.

Office Automation Office automation software Student Home correspondence Attendance Grades Test scores Newsletters Meeting notices Office automation software Personnel Personnel action forms Appointment Reappointment Tenure notifications Fringe benefits notices Curriculum Course offerings list Curriculum revisions Graduation checking Meeting agendas Financial Budget request forms Budget allocations Budget deadline notices Billing Contracts W-2 forms Facilities Inventory reports Equipment Supplies Work-order processing Schedules Confirmations

Specialized Administrative Applications Portals Statistical Software Packages Test-Scoring Equipment Automatic Telephone-Calling Systems Energy Management Systems

Integrating it Together: Data-Driven Decision Making Data-driven decision making means using data analysis to inform educators in determining courses of action involving policy and procedures. Data analysis is used to inform. It does not replace the experience, expertise, intuition, judgment, and acumen of competent educators.

Integrating it Together: Data-Driven Decision Making Related Terms: Data warehousing means using a database information system to store and maintain data longitudinally (over a period of time). Example: ATS (Activity Tracking System) Data mining is searching or "digging into" a data file for information to better understand a particular phenomenon. Data disaggregation means using software tools to break data files down into various characteristics. An example might be using a software program to select student-performance data on a standardized test by gender, by class, by ethnicity, or by other definable characteristics.

Integrating it Together: Data-Driven Decision Making The Data-Driven Decision Making Process