1. Technology for School Leadership
Chapter 4
Technology for School Leadership

2. 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

3. 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)

4. 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)

5. Major Education Administrative Applications
Databases
Electronic Spreadsheets
Office Automation

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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)

10. 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

11. 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!

12. 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

13. Electronic Spreadsheets

14. 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.

15. 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

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

17. 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.

18. 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.

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