The tendency of implementation of dashboards for management appeared initially in business. This trend was the consequence of companies’ need to ensure quality and effectiveness in a highly competitive environment which reduces time on data-analysis procedure (getting, preparing and visualizing data) and making fast decisions. 

Today we can see that this trend has reached the educational field as well, where educational systems of many countries started developing and  introducing dashboards/platforms to gather school data (USA, UK, Kazakhstan etc.). Nevertheless, the core goal set by the educational authorities  for such platforms in the majority of cases was not the automation itself but it was seen as a means for fostering a system of high accountability.

We can see that educational authorities of various Russian regions are developing dashboards and introducing them in the educational system but the question arises: who are the main stakeholders of these dashboards? Are the existing platforms assistants, tools for leading a school or merely a new form of accountability? 

In this article the authors are trying to address the following questions:

• What is principal and his/her deputies’ perception of the dashboards?

• What pros and cons do they see in it? Do they see the potential in it for data-based decision-making in leading the school? 

• What tasks do they address based on the data from dashboards?

Organizational context is one of the factors contributing to data-informed decision-making in schools (Dogan, E., & Demirbolat, 2021; Kallemeyn, 2014; Roegman, 2018; Smith, 2023;). In fact, educational authorities create systems for leveraging the data collection and analysis process in Russia but we can still observe the situation where it's not enough for principals, deputies and other school members. Therefore, the practice of developing surveys, and gathering additional information is common in schools of a Megapolis A. There is no unified platform which gathers all the information needed for school management. 

The article is the continuation of the research carried out in Megapolis A to unpack data-informed decision-making practices of school leadership teams (Ozerova & Tsatrian, to be published). The study was carried out in one of the biggest megapolicies of Russia with a high accountability system. We used mix-method approach to carry out the research: Quantitative approach involved survey of 453 members of the school management team (134 principals and 271 deputies and others). Overall, 167 schools took part in the survey. The survey allowed us to get the perceptions and reflections of the school management team about the platform with instruments for school self- evaluation which would serve as a basis for the dashboard. It also allows us to see what data the school management team collects about students, parents, teachers and so on, which means/tools they use. The survey consisted of open-ended and closed questions. qualitative approach involved semi-structured interviews with principals and their deputies in 8 schools. Interviews allowed us to unpack the leadership practices on the use of dashboards in leading schools, their perceptions of the impediments and pros of dashboards for data-based decision-making.

The study revealed that on the one hand school management teams see advantages in the existing as well as in the potential dashboard. Nevertheless, they see limitations in its usage for making decisions. In fact, the main limitation of the dashboard is that it was initially developed not basing on the leadership issues which the school management team addresses but basing on the demands of the educational authorities and as a tool which ensured communication and accountability in front of parents. What is more, the study allowed us to identify possible directions for the development of dashboards considering school management teams’ demands. The research brought to light the core obstacles school management teams’ face on the way of data-informed decision-making in schools.

Dogan, E., & Demirbolat, A. O. (2021). Data-Driven Decision-Making in Schools Scale: A Study of Validity and Reliability. International Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 13(1), 507-523. Kallemeyn, L. M. (2014). School-level organizational routines for learning: Supporting data use. Journal of Educational Administration, 52, 529-548. doi:10.1108/jea-02-2013-0025. Roegman, R., Perkins-Williams, R., Maeda, Y., & Greenan, K. A. (2018). Developing data leadership: Contextual influences on administrators’ data use. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 13(4), 348-374. Schildkamp, K., Lai, M. K., & Earl, L. (Eds.). (2012). Data-based decision making in education: Challenges and opportunities. Smith, S. T. (2023). The Role of Data-Driven Decision-Making in Organizational Transformation: A Case Study Analysis of Leadership and Organizational Actions (Doctoral dissertation, Fordham University).