Factors Influencing the Success of EMISs in Educational Development

Matt Finholt-Daniel

Seward IncorporatedUniversity of Minnesota

• Context

• EMIS Overview

• Research Objective

• Analysis

• Six Factors Influencing Success

• Tying it All Together

EMIS

anagement

ducational

nformation

ystem

Topics

Context

• Education for All & Millennium Development Goals

• Challenges of efficient and effective planning of education systems

• Lack of data leads to:

• Uninformed decisions

• Difficulty measuring the results of initiatives

• Donor agencies stepping in with funding for EMISs (past 20 years)

EMIS Overview

=

Make Informed Decisions

EMIS Overview

• ICT-based tool that uses data and reporting to enable:

• More-efficient use of resources

• Informed policy decisions

• Storing and making available a wealth of information

• High-level: enrollment monitoring, school performance, resource tracking, etc.

• Lower-level: teacher performance, student performance, monitoring of disadvantaged groups, program evaluation

Research Objective

To identify a series of factors that influence the success of Educational Management Information Systems within the context of the educational development.

Analysis

• Case studies from Mozambique, Ghana, Nigeria, and Zambia

• Inductive analysis

• 6 common themes or factors emerged as influencing their success

Theme 1: EMIS Design • An EMIS is not purely an ICT solution

• No two EMISs are the same. They often differ in:

• Scope (MOE, State, District, School)

• Available inputs

• Desired outputs

• Integration with other systems or data stores

• Must be designed from the ground-up to take into account the:

• ICT Available• People Involved• Process of data collection and management

Theme 2: Data Quality• Data inaccuracies or incompleteness leads to misinformed decisions

• Best case = waste of valuable resources

• Worst case = dis-service to the population

• Complete and accurate data from the lowest level

• All data must be verified before entry into the system

• The data must be as current as possible

Theme 3: Human Buy-in • Must happen at all levels (top – middle(s) - bottom)

• Politics is important!

• Collecting and verifying data is takes effort

• Lack of perceived benefit leads to higher change of falsified data

Theme 4: Access to Outputs • Access to EMIS outputs enables informed decisions = don’t hoard the

information

• Outputs should be available quickly and be relevant

• Use the system, don’t let it stagnate

• Make everyone aware how the their effort benefits them

Theme 5: System and Data Maintenance

• EMIS relies heavily on technology and process – Support is necessary year-round! Support teams must be able to recognize and remedy:

• Failing hardware

• Breakdowns in the data collection process

• Inaccuracy in stored data

• Incompatibilities with other systems and data stores

• Reporting needs change, that’s OK – Change the system

• Monitoring, Evaluating, and Revision

Theme 6: Sustainability Plan • Sustainability plans must be built in from the beginning

• Resources need to be allocated

• Ongoing training for all people that interact with the EMIS

• Devise a means to maintain buy-in and enthusiasm

• Full ownership of the EMIS must be transferred from the donor agency BEFORE the end of the project/funding.

Questions?