Data-collection systems

You can find out about using data collection systems, review your current system and find examples of five different systems you could use.

Robust data analysis in your school begins with the collection of high-quality evidence.

Using data-collection systems

There are a number of self-developed and commercially produced systems that you can use to support the collection of behaviour data. For most schools the main focus will be referral data for various levels of disruptive behaviour. However, some schools also log positive behaviour.

Key features of effective systems

• time-efficient to encourage staff use
• understood and used in a consistent manner
• coverage of both positive and negative behaviours
• capable of producing baseline reports that profile individuals and groups of learners at given times of the year, week or day
• capable of generating report summaries by class teacher, department/faculty or cohort, for example
• comprehensive in design to allow parent/carer, learner and staff views to be considered alongside quantitative data
• compliant with other data-tracking systems to allow behaviour data to inform other aspects of school improvement, such as learner progression.

Review your processes

You might like to use the document Review of data-collection processes (DOC-42 KB) Attachments to assess your current data-collection systems against the key features above. Think about whether your current processes meet the needs of your school in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. In your decision-making, consider:

• learner numbers
• the current status of behaviour in your school
• your school's financial status.

This will help to inform any potential short- and long-term actions to refine or extend current practice.

Types of data-collection system

The following models describe methods some schools have used to record and monitor aspects of behaviour. All systems have their merits dependent on the size and complexities of your school so it may be helpful to consider the approaches below as part of your review.

Model A: Paper-based system

We have a system of recording all incidents on yellow paper slips. There are some in all registers and in all classrooms. When an incident of poor behaviour occurs, the member of staff present writes a description of the incident and puts it into a tray in the office. Every morning and at the beginning of the afternoon I check for any slips and enter them on to an overview sheet. I record several types of information, such as the type of incident, location, time and year group. When this is done, I pass all of the slips to the relevant head of year. At the end of the week I pass the overview sheet on to the headteacher.

Member of support staff

Model B: ICT model developed by a school

We have developed a simple database that enables us to monitor trends in some important areas. At the moment we can display the frequency of incidents in several ways. We also have an accurate record of rewards.

ICT subject leader

Model C: Commercial software

We agreed to finance a commercially produced software package to record our behaviour incidents. It's not cheap, but it's replaced our paper system and we think it's improved our monitoring of behaviour incidents. The system still relies upon staff to report incidents that they have dealt with and we have set it up on the network so that any member of staff can input information at any time. A series of drop-down menus takes you through the procedure and guides you through the type and category of incident. At any time I can see a report that shows how many incidents there are of a certain type. For instance, I can find out how many Year 9 girls have been involved in disruptive classroom behaviour in the past three weeks. I can also get information on incidents in particular lessons, at specific times of the day. The information can be displayed as tables or in chart form. We can also record pupils' positive behaviour and keep track of the rewards and merits they receive. When a certain number of incidents has been recorded, the software will trigger a warning so that we can provide a support programme for an individual or for groups of pupils.

Behaviour and attendance lead

Model D: Commercial ICT software to gather learners' opinions

One of my responsibilities is facilitating the school council meetings. They are very useful sessions, but I had always wanted a method of gathering pupils' opinions on a wider basis. I looked at several ICT-based systems before choosing one. We use the software as a way of testing the temperature with our pupils. It does take careful planning to give classes access to computers over a relatively short period of time. All the results are analysed by the software and we use the information to inform our planning. We find out all sorts of things about pupils' feelings on which lessons are most interesting, perceptions about behaviour, bullying and attendance, and it is across the whole school. We've been doing it for three years now and we are learning a lot about patterns and trends concerning our pupils' behaviour and attendance. We also use a supplementary questionnaire to extend the investigation with selected groups of pupils. We do this more than once a year.

Assistant headteacher

Model E: Behaviour module within the school's information management system

We operate an information management system which holds a range of data. This includes information on finance, pupil details and history, the timetable and so on. The system is set up to allow us to record serious incidents and poor behaviour. Each incident is recorded using a standard form and entered into the system when the responsible deputy is satisfied that the incident is concluded. One of the deputies has responsibility for monitoring the behaviour and attendance area of the system and reports to myself and the governing body on a termly basis. The data can be presented for individual pupils or year groups and categorised by gender and ethnicity. The system will also generate week by week reports as well as over a longer and selected period of time.

Headteacher