Perspectives for school information systems

The development of information systems is often considered, overtly or covertly, in the context of large organisations. Schools, as organisations, need to confront many of the same problems in the development of appropriate information systems but also suffer from difficulties as a result of their size and their organisational nature. This paper attempts to provide an organisational perspective of the difficulties that schools face in developing an information system, the scope of such information systems and the directions in which schools have moved in implementing information systems. Schools as organisations Schools have specific organisational characteristics which distinguish them from most other organisations. These characteristics include a flatter hierarchy, a large proportion of semi-professional and autonomous staff members, and a range of roles undertaken by staff which are beyond those officially assigned, as well as having vague goals, and outputs which are difficult to directly relate to inputs (Brands, 1981, p. 820; Hedberg & Harper, 1992). Such organisations are difficult to fit into a picture of organisations as rational, organised entities; they are more appropriately viewed as open systems (Williams, 1987, p. 146) in which loose coupling and spheres of influence develop and change in response to the external forces that impact upon the school. Amongst those external forces are the larger authorities under which schools typically operate. In Australia, public schools operate under the auspices of a state government department which is usually divided into legions. The NSW Department of School Education is divided into 1