ICT in leadership and management
Leading and managing change with ICT
Primary schools
Staff satisfaction
Management of ICT is particularly strong in primary schools where the the 2005 staff survey showed high levels of satisfaction with management among primary teaching and support staff. For example, 87% of support staff and 86% of teaching staff stated that their school had an effective approach towards managing change. Around three quarters of the primary school staff agreed that their school's management of resources was satisfactory in terms of appropriate class sizes and use of ICT in managing resources; that there was a good match between what people do and their skills (support staff: 88%, teaching staff: 81%); and that there was an effective strategy for record-keeping (support staff: 92%, teaching staff: 88%).
Use of management information systems (MIS)
ICT Test Bed primary schools already had in place some elements of an MIS system before the ICT Test Bed project was launched and typically have utilised only some elements of the full MIS system. As a management tool, full access and administrator's rights are normally restricted to the primary school headteacher and secretary. Primary teachers in general currently only feel the need to access a small number of elements: pupil profiles, registration, partial access to assessment systems. Target-setting and analysis of assessments in primary schools is usually the responsibility of the headteacher and a named co-ordinator, and the co-ordination of assessment data is well developed in most primary schools in order to satisfy DfES target-setting.
Experience indicates that primary schools require the support of the LEA in setting up and running the MIS, as commercial providers have little understanding of their needs. ICT Test Bed primary schools have also benefited greatly from technical support provided by the secondary school.
Secondary schools
Staff satisfaction
The 2005 maturity modelling of the ICT Test Bed secondary schools showed more uneven progress than for primary schools or FE colleges. This is perhaps as a result of the greater complexity of their task, certainly when compared with primary schools. Satisfaction rates in the staff survey are somewhat disappointing with 43% of secondary support staff and 38% of secondary teaching staff considering their institution's methods of managing change to be unsatisfactory.
Use of management information systems (MIS)
The ICT Test Bed secondary schools were disappointed in the lack of fine-tuning of the systems to meet their own school requirements. The suppliers have produced a generic package but appreciation of how it may need to be customised has been lacking. Furthermore, the suppliers appear not to have the resources needed to customise the provision.
In ICT Test Bed secondary schools the systems are generally managed by dedicated administrative staff who maintain the integrity of the data. Analysis of the data is the responsibility of specified members of the senior management team. Access to data is not generally available to all staff.
In one ICT Test Bed cluster, secondary classroom teachers have been involved in gathering data for assessment and behaviour management. However, without experience of how the analyses are carried out, significant data may be omitted and the task can seem to be merely administrative. It is imperative, therefore, that the user interface between the classroom teacher and the system is as easy to manage as possible.
Electronic registration is generally seen as helpful. In secondary schools, the ability to monitor lesson-by-lesson attendance is working positively to reducing truancy and unauthorised absence. In some ICT Test Bed primary schools, the ability to link to 'same day calling' of parents/guardians has raised attendance by 3-4%.
All schools
The successful implementation of any new computer system requires drive and commitment from the senior managers and a significant nucleus of other staff.
Use of management information systems (MIS)
MIS is a tool which greatly assists schools in providing information for central government, often through the mediation of the LEA. Not surprisingly, therefore, requirements for information have been a major driving force behind the development of school MIS systems. It is clear from monitoring the implementation of MIS in the ICT Test Bed schools that, while much of this information is very useful to the school in its planning and development, some is of less obvious value. Paradoxically, the ease of data collection and storage has left schools feeling that they are being overloaded with information being sent by the LEA and DfES. Although the information may not be wholly pertinent, it has to be read in order to ascertain its importance. It is recognised that the DfES does have procedures in place to deal with this, especially through the annual return which is found valuable, but the provision of information to schools continues to need to be monitored and assessed for pertinence.
Finance in most schools is still audited and managed by the Local Authorities who have developed reportedly good MIS systems to deal with this. Schools use their financial management systems to provide reports and analyses for senior management, the governors and the LEA, which is made possible by the relational basis of the new MIS systems.
Use of virtual learning environments (VLE)
VLEs are still at an early stage in development and the schools have experienced the problems of being trailblazers.
For most primary schools in the clusters where a VLE has been introduced, integrating its use with everyday teaching and learning has not been a major priority. As with some elements of the MIS system (for example, assessment) the earlier piecemeal resolution of some resource management issues (such as storage of curriculum materials) makes it less likely that teachers will move across to a new and probably more complicated (even if more efficient) system.
In one ICT Test Bed cluster, the secondary school has spearheaded the procurement and installation of a VLE to provide ready access to the community. Protocols for access and the necessary firewalls are only just being developed and are complex. However, the secondary school has invested a considerable amount of money and time in developing materials for learning and teaching to populate the VLE. The commitment of the senior management may lead to a successful VLE being in place in the near future which is linked to students' homes, and this will be a focus for research in the final year of the project.
In another cluster, an early decision was made that a cluster-wide VLE would not be cost-effective. A secondary school which bought a VLE in the early stages of ICT Test Bed found that it proved unsatisfactory and is now considering purchasing another system.
In the third cluster a cluster-wide VLE has been installed, and although supported by the cluster managers the client interface has proved difficult for the teachers. In the secondary school two very poor training sessions from the provider have significantly affected the confidence of the staff in its effectiveness and no doubt delayed its development significantly. The importance of quality training for central systems implementation cannot be too strongly stressed if they are to be well used by the teaching staff.
In the final year of the project, research will focus on tracking the implementation and value of VLEs and also other less complex alternatives which give some of the same functionality.