95555 EDUCATION NOTES February 2015 Improving Student Learning Through Informed Decisions: The Role of Education Management Information Systems Why is an Effective EMIS Important? Challenges to an Effective EMIS Assessing the state of education in a country demands Many countries struggle with the policies, structures, information about the inputs, resources, governance, and processes necessary to establish an effective EMIS. operations, and outcomes of its education system. An Challenges may include: education management information system (EMIS) collects, manages, and facilitates utilization of education data. An • Policies and strategy; effective EMIS provides systematic, quality, timely data, • Leadership and long-term vision; driving efficiency and evidence-based decision making. • Technical issues (e.g., integration, security, and poorly When implemented effectively, EMIS is linked to higher defined or classified data); or student achievement and stronger education systems. • Utilization challenges (e.g., lack of openness and accessibility of data, limited training, and poor Without an effective EMIS, challenges reverberate across dissemination). the education system and decision makers lack the Common EMIS challenges revolve around deficiencies information they require to make good decisions. With an in three critical areas: sustainability, accountability, and effective EMIS, decision makers can answer questions efficiency. Most countries with an EMIS struggle with such as: sustainability issues, such as: incompatibility with existing systems, poor customization of new systems, staff capacity • Are students learning? Is learning equitable? Are stu- issues, limited financial resources, or limited government dents graduating and finding work? commitment. Without sustainability there is no long-term • Are effective accountability systems in place? Do use, and without long-term use there cannot be long-term communities have access to data so they can hold impact on the classroom (Abdul-Hamid 2014, Crouch 1997). schools accountable? Winkler and Herstein (2005) identify three components to • Are teachers qualified and equipped with effective overcome sustainability challenges and improve information professional development training programs? culture: 1) reorientation of the information system toward • Are schools managed effectively? Where is money clients, 2) improved capacity to use information at the local spent? Are resources allocated efficiently? level, and 3) increased demand for information. “Student data isn’t the whole story, but it is a critical Accountability is considered a critical element of service part of the story. When data is effectively collected, delivery that influences the incentives and actions of both managed, and utilized, opportunities emerge the providers and recipients of information (Pritchett and that make the entire education system stronger.” Woolcock 2004). Accountability is increased when decision Jack Smith, Chief Academic Officer, Maryland State Department of Education EDUCATION NOTES makers access and use quality data to improve the education A well-integrated EMIS can track student data system. Conversely, accountability declines in education longitudinally, over time from preschool into the systems that lack reliable and timely data. workforce, and integrate that data with data from other government agencies, such as higher education An efficient EMIS is necessary to support overall education and labor agencies. This level of insight into policies and management; inefficiency is a symptom of poor performance programs arms decision makers with extremely powerful (World Bank 2004). Challenges around efficiency occur when information that they can use to make new decisions and education statistics and records are not effectively maintained defend or explain old decisions. and decision makers are not provided with accurate timely Figure 1: Longitudinal Data data. Inefficiency at any level is a serious obstacle blocking an effective EMIS. What Does an Effective EMIS Look Like? For an education system to work, the right policies must make the right data available to the right people at the right time. This sequence depends on an effective EMIS, which catalyzes data utilization in important ways. According to the Systems Approach for Better • Data reveals the extent to which students are learning Education Results (SABER) EMIS framework, a set of and where there are learning gaps. functionalities and components of an EMIS are required • Data enables education stakeholders to be fully in order for an EMIS to be effective: an information cycle, supported, resource allocation to match school needs, a multifaceted system, data coverage, and data use and effective monitoring and evaluation, and relevant effectiveness. professional development. • Data enhances effectiveness and efficiency in school An information cycle. The collection, maintenance, analysis, management. dissemination, and utilization of education data in an EMIS • Data increases return on investment. occur in a cyclical manner which SABER-EMIS refers to as the “EMIS Information Cycle” (figure 2). The system keeps Data utilization has the potential to increase teacher track of inputs and helps assess the quality of policies and efficacy and improve student learning outcomes. institutions, ultimately informing decision makers on student Research found that when local school systems used data- learning and other outcomes and policy actions. Information driven strategies for school improvement, state assessment produced by the system is provided back to the data provider (e.g., schools) to be reviewed, acted on, and improved. scores increased up to 13 percentage points (Armstrong and Anthes 2001). Further, an evaluation of the Oregon DATA Figure 2: EMIS Information Cycle Project, which was designed to increase data-driven decision making in the classroom, found that schools participating in the program were closing the achievement gap at a faster rate than schools without access to data training (Dunn 2011). Decision makers across education systems strive for effectiveness, efficiency (including reducing costs), and equity, and to achieve these goals, they require evidence. Access to and use of education statistics is a necessary part of policy implementation and review (Kitamura and Hirosato 2009). February 2015 Australia’s My School platform is an example of EMIS that also contains aggregate figures derived from data, such as transformed data and reporting processes to increase enrollment rates and completion rates. The availability of accountability and improve education outcomes. Before this second type of data provides a deeper understanding My School, communities, especially parents, had little of the education system. access to data and therefore were unable to evaluate and Data Use and Effectiveness. An effective EMIS produces hold schools accountable. Additionally, decision makers accessible education statistics that are easily digestible and lacked national comparable education data. Today, actionable for a variety of purposes. EMIS statistics are not My School provides information comparable across all limited to data collectors and statisticians, but instead are a Australian schools on student population, attendance useful tool for an array of clients. rates average achievement, student progress over time, financial data, and staff data (ACARA 2014). Multifaceted System. An EMIS is a multifaceted, Key EMIS Policy Goals institutionalized system consisting of technological and SABER-EMIS was created to understand and measure institutional arrangements for collecting, processing, and what matters most for education management information disseminating data in an education system. In short, a systems. Based on a thorough review of global evidence successful EMIS cannot exist in a vacuum. and relevant literature, SABER-EMIS identified four core policy goals that need to be assessed. For each policy goal, Data Coverage. The coverage of statistics in a system a set of actions, or policy levers, are identified that decision falls into two categories: raw information and aggregate makers can act upon in order to strengthen an EMIS. Taken figures. An education management system maintains raw together, the four policy goals and 19 policy levers comprise information on the education system, such as payroll, a comprehensive EMIS that informs and supports a quality teacher qualifications, human resources, and finance. It education system (figure 3). Figure 3: EMIS Policy Goals & Levers February 2012 EDUCATION NOTES Improving EMIS Between 1998 and 2014, the World Bank helped develop and the state of EMISs, but there is still a long way to go. enhance more than 230 EMIS-related projects worldwide, SABER-EMIS identifies four levels of EMIS implementation. nearly half of all World Bank education projects. Such Figure 4 summarizes each level and shares potential policy investments from the Bank and other institutions improved considerations at each stage of development. Figure 4: EMIS Implementation Levels and Associated Policy Recommendations References Abdul-Hamid, H. 2014. SABER-EMIS Framework Paper. World Bank. ACARA. 2014. “About My School.” http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/About_My_School_2014.pdf. Accessed December 1, 2014. Armstrong, J., and K. Anthes. 2001. “How Data Can Help: Putting information to work to raise student achievement.” American School Board Journal. Cassidy, Thomas. 2006. “Education Management Information System (EMIS) Development in Latin America and the Caribbean: Lessons and Challenges.” Work document. Inter-American Development Bank, Washington, DC. Crouch, Luis. 1997. “Sustainable EMIS: Who is Accountable?” In From Planning to Action: Government Initiatives for Improving School-Level Practice, ed. David W. Chapman, Lars O. Mählck, and Anna E. M. Smulders , 211–39. Paris: UNESCO and Pergamon. Dunn, K. 2011. Oregon DATA Project Final Evaluation Report. Next Level Evaluation, Incorporated. Fayetteville, AR. Kitamura, Yuto, and Yasushi Hirosato. 2009. “An Analytical Framework of Educational Development and Reform in Developing Countries.” The Political Economy of Educational Reforms and Capacity Development in Southeast Asia, 41–54. New York: Springer. Pritchett, Lant, and Michael Woolcock. 2004. “Solutions When the Solution is the Problem.” World Development 32 (2): 191–212. Winkler, Donald R., and Jon Herstein. 2005. “Information Use and Decentralized Education.” EQUIP2/USAID, Washington, DC. 2004. World Bank. 2004. World Development Report 2004: Making Services Work for Poor People. Washington, DC: World Bank. Education Notes is a series produced by the World Bank to share lessons learned from innovative approaches to improving education practice and policy around the globe. Background work for this piece was done in partnership with support from the Australian government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). For additional information or hard copies, please go to www.worldbank.org/education. Authors: Husein Abdul-Hamid, Sarah Mintz, and Namrata Saraogi Photo Credit: © Maria Fleischmann / World Bank