Abstract for:Exploring The Effects Of Mass Dissemination Of Performance Data: The Case Of School Performance Tables

The system of performance measurement in schools along with the publication of school performance tables can be viewed as a large, non-linear and complex social system. As the outcome of publishing school league tables, evidence says that good school are becoming better because they compete among themselves to attain a higher rank in the school league tables to attract more students. Meanwhile the school in the low rank in the league tables improves themselves or face the risk of closing. This study explores how various factors affect student’s performance in the exam by creating simulation model. The simulation model reflects the behaviour of students, teachers and parents in schools of different types, as well as that of the media which publishes school performance tables, and the observed performance outcomes of schools. It is hypothesised that the mechanisms which the model simulates have some similarity to the actual causal mechanisms at play when school performance is measured and the results are published. The model’s behaviours are explored to investigate the effects of different variables, initial conditions and causal relationships. Data gathered from the literature survey and semi-structured interviews using a case study research methodology are used to develop this simulation model.