Promoting Sustainable Data-Based Decision-Making in the Korean Educational Information Disclosure System

Abstract

This study investigates the Korean Educational Information Disclosure System (KEIDS) and suggests sustainable development policies for KEIDS to improve school-level data-based decision-making (DBDM) from the educational administration’s perspective. It also raises the following questions: What are the barriers impeding effective data use by the KEIDS? How do school teachers, who are directly involved in using data, effectively prepare for DBDM using the KEIDS? How can the KEIDS be improved for DBDM concerning quality data, school context, and institutional support? To answer these questions, the study reviewed KEIDS-related documents and interviewed 24 school teachers through an interpretive case study approach while using a research framework of data quality, school contexts, and institutional support. Its results highlight important issues with the KEIDS and sustainable DBDM, in other words, teachers and administrators are not always conscious of the need for using data; the lack of data use understanding creates issues among principal leadership and teachers’ involvement and cooperation; the quality of the student data in the Schoolinfo system is questionable; and the central education authority focuses on simply disclosing student data rather than pursuing the goal of the KEIDS. The study suggests facilitating DBDM through the KEIDS in terms of data quality, school context, and institutional support.