At the Heart of the Next Generation of Information Technology in Educational Management - Data Driven Discussion for Decision Making

Handling data in schools has moved from recording data in repositories, to reporting data to different stakeholders, to decision making using specific types of data. There are clear arguments that decision making functions require access to data, but the research literature indicates that discussion about points and issues is an important pre-requisite. This paper looks at evidence that highlights discussion as a fundamental need, offers two case study examples of schools integrating discussion that contributes to curriculum decision making with data, reviews a new data management system integrating features supporting discussion, and in conclusion highlights key points for future development.