Faculty of Psychology and Education Science Designing school-level indicators in French Speaking Belgium Alix Dandoy, Marc Demeuse, Alexandra Franquet, Nathanaël Friant, & Jonathan Hourez

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 2 Objectives and theoretical framework Educational system context  Educational « quasi-market » (Maroy & Dupriez, 2000 ; Duru-Bellat & Meuret, 2001).  Free school choice and organization  Public financing  Competitive interdependencies (Delvaux & Joseph, 2003) – Hierarchical ranking of schools  Segregation (Crahay, 2000 ; Demeuse, 2005 ; Baye & al., 2004 ; Demeuse & Baye, 2007; 2008)  Very privileged schools (sanctuary schools) Very underprivileged schools (ghetto schools)  Little leverage to encourage social mixing  Public founds allocation (Demeuse et al., 2010)  Schools as real units

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 3 Objectives and theoretical framework Research context  Research project funded by the public schools organized by the French Community of Belgium  To equip decision makers at the school and at the system levels with relevant information to make decisions  Pilotage (monitoring of educational outcomes) : “A set of proceedings aiming at modifying a system in order to reach targets” (Demeuse & Baye, 2001)  To produce scientific knowledge: a more accurate understanding of the mechanisms fostering segregation at the educational system level

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 4 Understanding segregation Global view of segregation Local view of a school situation Systemic view Is there segregation between schools? Is the school privileged? Does it gain or lose pupils from one grade to another? Do many pupils leave the school before 6th grade? Do many pupils enter the school after the 1st grade? What kind of pupils do leave the most privileged schools ? Where do these pupils go? What are the pupils flows between several schools? What are the mechanisms fostering segregation? e.g. Segregation indexes (Demeuse & Baye, 2008)

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 5 Method Data  Census tables (administration)  1 record = 1 pupil  Variables (school, year of studies, track, date of birth, home country and town, diplomas, socioeconomic index)  Aggregated at the school level  Evolution over 5 years  Socioeconomic index (SES) (Demeuse & al., 1999)  Home district  Metric variable (normal distribution)  Not definitive

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 6 Method School level indicators  Structure  Average SES, SES by track  Population structure  Size  SES  Flows  Evolution  Incoming and outgoing flows + SES  Grade repetition management (generated, treated, externalized) + SES

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 7 Results: Local view Population604 Socioeconomic index- 0,25 Students leaving20% Students entering5% Grade repetition15% Of which externalised27% Grade repetition coming from other schools2% ……

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 8 Results: Local view Population601 Socioeconomic index- 0,16 Students leaving16% Students entering4% Grade repetition15% Of which externalised27% Grade repetition coming from other schools2% ……

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 9 Results: Local view Population590 Socioeconomic index- 0,19 Students leaving18% Students entering3% Grade repetition20% Of which externalised20% Grade repetition coming from other schools1% ……

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 10 Results: Local view

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 11 Results: Systemic view City map  Each point = one school  Point size = school size  Schools and districts are coloured  Dark red = low SES  Dark green = high SES

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 12 Results: Systemic view A B C C’ D

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 13 Equipping decision makers with relevant information PastPresent future Description Prevision Policy change Prospective Requires to Model individual behaviour Model the system and change parameters

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 14 Extracting individual behaviour rules Data mining  Automatic extraction of information from large datasets  Tool: Weka (Hall et al., 2009) Individual behaviour rules: school choice  Distance  SES  Moving houses  Changing streams (relegation)

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 15 Simulation using NetLogo NetLogo (Wilenski, 1999)  « Multi-agent programming language and modeling environment for simulating natural and social phenomena » (Wilensky, 1999)  Agents operating independantly Our model  Agents  Pupils  Schools  Located on districts

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 16 Simulation using NetLogo: prevision

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 17 Simulation using NetLogo: prevision

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 18 Simulation using NetLogo: prevision

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 19 Simulation using NetLogo: prospective

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 20 System level information What would be the systemic consequences of  Closing a school?  Creating new schools? E.g. creating new schools in underprivileged districts could foster segregation

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 21 Discussion Scientific importance  Beyond the static picture  Systemic point of view  Conciliates micro studies and macro data  Allows to understand relations between schools and complex systemic effects  Simulation  Allows to test hypotheses or unpredicted effects otherwise impossible to test  But it can’t take into account all the possible parameters

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 22 Discussion Educational importance  Produces relevant information that could equip decision makers to make sound decisions  E.g. monitor the public schools’ network  Work in progress:  Parameters can be added  Consultation with the silent partner  Ethics  the purpose is NOT to provide a marketing tool  Who could use this information, and for which purpose?

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 23 Thank you for your attention! Institute of School Administration Prof. Marc Demeuse: Alix Dandoy: Alexandra Franquet: Nathanaël Friant: Information Systems Jonathan Hourez:

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 24 School B Population590 Socioeconomic index- 0,19 Students leaving18% Students entering3% Grade repetition20% Of which externalised20% Grade repetition coming from other schools1% …… localsystemic

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 25 School A Population1094 Socioeconomic index0,33 Students leaving13% Students entering5% Grade repetition18% Of which externalised28% Grade repetition coming from other schools1% …… localsystemic

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 26 School C Population467 Socioeconomic index- 0,28 Students leaving37% Students entering26% Grade repetition26% Of which externalised35% Grade repetition coming from other schools7% …… localsystemic

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 27 School C’ Population489 Socioeconomic index- 0,41 Students leaving20% Students entering38% Grade repetition29% Of which externalised41% Grade repetition coming from other schools6% …… localsystemic

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 28 School D Population590 Socioeconomic index- 1,31 Students leaving18% Students entering26% Grade repetition23% Of which externalised26% Grade repetition coming from other schools12% …… localsystemic

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 29 Pilotage Definition (Demeuse & Baye, 2001)  « A set of proceedings aiming at modifying a system in order to reach targets »  There is a definition, at least temporary, of an « ideal state », i.e. a target to reach  Four steps 1.Collecting information 2.Diagnosing 3.Determining the actions 4.Implementing solutions

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 30 Pilotage Diagnosing Determining actions Implementing solutions Collecting information « Ideal state » definition

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 31 Data mining « The nontrivial process of identifying valid, novel, pontentially useful, and ultimately understandable patterns in data » (Fayyad et al., 1996).

Université de Mons Alix Dandoy | Service de Méthodologie et Formation / INAS 32 Segregation indexes (Demeuse & Baye, 2008) « The proportion of pupils belonging to the target group that should change schools in order to achieve a homogenous distribution of this group in all of the schools » (Gorard and Taylor 2002).