“My School” Data Platform
AUSTRALIA CASE STUDY
1. My School Overview
My School is a website that provides access to data about
Australian schools
Source: www.myschool.edu.au; My School Factsheet; OECD (2012, p.35)
1 2 3Information about schools can be searched by name or location and
filtered by sector
Schools serving students with statistically similar
background can be compared
User interface places individual schools in the center of analysis, not
rankings
My School was developed to meet a range of objectives
Empowerment
of Schools &
Parents
Transparency &
Accountability
Better Funding Decisions
Evidence-Based
Policy
Improved
Learning
Outcomes
Three types of information are available on My School
Note: all the information is available in a yearly basis since 2008.Sources: www.myschool.edu.au; OECD (2012, p37); and Concerning Learning, 2014, p15)
School profile
Student enrollment
School staff
EducationalOutcomes
OperationalContextFinancial Data
School-level literacy and numeracy test scores
Students’ score gains
Vocational education completion rates
Recurrent income
Capital expenditures
Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage
2. Enabling Conditions
Building the Education
Revolution
My School was part of a broader set of education reforms
8
Provide new and
refurbished infrastructure
to all eligible schools
NAPLAN &
My School
Computer equipment and
ICT for secondary
schools
Online curriculum
ICT teacher training
Broadband connectivity
National literacy and
numeracy testing
Accessibility of school-
level data online
EDUCATION REVOLUTION
Digital Education
Revolution
Aligned with focus on transparency and accountability
9
Not-for-Profits:
Aust. Charities and
Not-for-Profits Com.
Education:
My School
Health:
My Hospitals
Trade:
Transparency in free
trade negotiations
Transparency &
Accountability
Agenda
My School was negotiated and implemented during a time of
strong Commonwealth-State relations
Government Leadership
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Federal
NSW
VIC
QLD
WA
SA
TAS
NT
ACT
Labor Liberal My School negotiation and implementation
My School benefited from a rich base of school data
Data Type Collecting Body Existed / New
NAPLAN ACARA1 New
School Profile States2 Existed
Direct SEA Schools1 New
Indirect SEA Census1 Existed
Indigenous % Census1 Existed
Remoteness Census1 Existed
School Attendance Schools3 Existed
Financials National Skills Standards Council Existed
School Survey Education Services Australia4 New
Disability Schools5 Existed
1: OECD (2012), 2: My School Fact Sheet (2013), 3: Factsheet (2015), 4: ACARA Website (2016), 5: Australian Government of Education Website (2016) 11
High levels of internet access and literacy facilitated My School
12
The darker the blue, the faster the
connection
Source: Australian Government Department of Communications, Broadband Availability and Quality Report, December 2013
Internet Speeds Across Australia
Enabling factors & obstacles
Essential
Strong top-down political
leadership
▪ Julia Gillard
Productive
Commonwealth-State
relations
▪ Strong Labor presence
across levels of
government
Technology▪ Internet Infrastructure▪ Digital literacy▪ Data literacy
Helpful
Consistency with broad
policy strategy
▪ Education agenda
▪ Transparency agenda
Data Availability▪ Existing data sets▪ Mechanisms for
introducing new indicators
Obstacles
Changes in power
▪ Federal leadership spills
▪ Turnover of State and
Territory governments
Uneven Connectivity▪ Rural areas
3. Implementation Processes
The core legislative foundation for My School was built over time
Schools
Assistance
(Learning Together
through Choice
and Opportunity)
Act 2004 (Cth)
Melbourne
Declaration on
Education Goals
for Young
Australians
Australian
Curriculum,
Assessment,
Reporting
Authority Act 2008
(Cth)
Schools
Assistance Act
2008 (Cth)
Intergovernmental
Agreement on
Federal Financial
Relations
Schools
Assistance
Regulations 2009
(Cth)
Legislative and Governance Timeline
November 2004
November 2008
December2008
January2009
Australian
Education Act
2013 (Cth)
June2013
Australia’s intergovernmental structures facilitated My School’s
development
Commonwealth
States and Territories Council of Australian Governments
Education Council
ACARA
ACARA: My School’s information distribution mechanism
1. ACARA is an independent Australian Government authority with functions that include publishing nationally comparable data on all Australian schools.2. All schools who receive public funding must submit their data to ACARA. About 9,500 schools have their data on the portal currentlySources: Making my School Better, March 2015; My School FAQ;
ACARA
Public
My School2Parents & school
communityPublic officials
The Australian Curriculum,
Assessment and
Reporting Authority1
Australian GovernmentNon-government
school authorities
State and territory
authorities
Consensus and Capacity-Building Across Stakeholders
TeachersSchools &
School Leaders
Researchers &
CommentatorsPolicymakers
Parents
Students
Key components for success
Essential
Early engagement of vocal
stakeholders
▪ Opposition from teacher
unions was mitigated
▪ Surveys of parents to
understand needs
Centralized management
of education data
▪ ACARA
Centralized Funding
Structure
▪ Intergovernmental
Agreement on Federal
Financial Relations
▪ National Education
Agreement
▪ Schools Assistance Act
Helpful
Ongoing stakeholder
engagement
▪ New data sources, new
functionalities
Intergovernmental
Education Initiatives
▪ Melbourne Declaration
of Educational Goals for
Young Australians
▪ COAG Education
Council
Obstacles
Resistance against school
comparisons
▪ League tables
No federal administration
of State and Territory
schools
4. Early Evaluations of Impact
Who uses My School?
4 million ‘potential users’
1.45 million site visits*
0.79 million unique visitors*
0.66 million repeat visitors*
Used more in
independent
school sector
Used in similar
proportions across
8 jurisdictions
Used at peak by
principals and
parents of NAPLAN
students
Used less by larger
school systems
?
*indicates visitors for My School 2013Source: Cook (2015) p. 19, 25-26, 66
Beyond the general descriptors,
individual users are unable to be
identified.
My School web-site usage data
Traffic
statistics(per session)
▪ Aver. duration: 6.25 mins
▪ Average page views: 10.6
▪ Bounce rate: 35%
There is a wide spectrum of stakeholder views on My School
22
-+
Support for My School
1. Farrow, (2014) p. 13. 2. Sarah Goss interview. 3. Peter Goss interview. 4. Cook, (2015) p.32. 5. Cook, (2015) p.18 6. Danielle Toon and Jennifer Ames
interviews. 7. Senate Inquiry, (2010), Danielle Toon and Jennifer Ames interviews. 8. ACARA, Bruton, p.4 9. Farrow, (2014) p. 13
Unions perceive
My School as
putting pressure on
teachers,
disadvantaged
schools
Some parents find
My School a useful
tool to compare
school performance
Site usage is low
Some parents and
teachers find My
School difficult to use
My School is limited
by the lack of school
choice
Parents were
strongly in favor of
being provided with
more information
related to school
performance
My School is valued
amongst
researchers and
commentators,
although many use
the underlying
data sets
School
leaders worry
about the misuse
of My School
data and need
more data to
drive decisions8Open data
advocates see it
as a closed
platform
Evaluations have had mixed results
Valuable Under-
utilized
UnclearImproving
5. Conclusions
Key components for success
Area Essential Helpful Potential Obstacles
Structural
Factors
• Centralized management
of educational data
• Centralized funding
structure
• Formal intergovernmental
structures setting shared
values, responsibilities
• Disconnect between
Federal and State level
approach to education
Technical
Factors
• Technical infrastructure
• Digital and data literacy
• Pre-existing datasets
• Mechanisms for adding
indicators
• Training where needed
• Lack of rural connectivity
Political Factors • Strong top-down political
leadership
• Strong intergovernmental
relations
• Consistency with broad
policy strategy
• Changes in power
structures
Community
Stakeholders
• Early engagement of
vocal stakeholders
• Ongoing engagement of
stakeholders
• Parent demand for the data
• Resistance against
school comparisons
• Lack of user friendliness
25
Thank You
Investigations into Using Data to Improve Learning: My School Australia Case Studyhttps://www.brookings.edu/research/inves
tigations-to-using-data-to-improve-learning/
Top Related