Developing data collection and management systems for decision-making: What professional development is required?

•About two-thirds of school clusters could produce high quality data with support.•School clusters with the best data management systems outsourced to experts.•If outsourcing, schools may need professional development to choose contractors and evaluate their quality.•Schools need criteria for ‘high quality data’, and training in data management.•Having a nation or state data management system influences the content of professional development required.

Many school reform initiatives require schools to use data for decision-making. These policies often assume that the data schools use are of ‘high quality’; that is, appropriate data is collected, and the data collected is managed in a way that provides schools sufficient evidence for decision-making. Are schools capable of producing such high quality data, and what professional development is required for them to do so? This study reports on the first national evaluation of schools’ evaluative capability in schooling improvement initiatives across New Zealand. About two-thirds of school clusters could produce high quality data with support. There is the need for criteria on what counts as ‘high quality’ data, and training in developing and managing databases.