Data-based education management

Jena's education management helps to ensure that

1. the availability of tailor-made educational offers for the population,
2. transparent advisory services and structures exist and
3. professional networks and management structures accompany and further develop the services.

Key areas of work for a successful educational landscape

• Establishing permanent management and cooperation structures (e.g. education steering group, cooperation agreements)
• Further development of strategic objectives and education policy priorities using education monitoring data (e.g. Jena education mission statement)
• Stronger anchoring of educational planning in municipal strategic planning (e.g. needs assessment for cultural education, transition management between nurseries and schools, cooperation between schools and youth welfare services)
• Further development of participation structures to help shape the municipal education landscape (e.g. education conference)
• Offensive public relations work on educational issues (e.g. Jena school fair, online and print media)

Education monitoring is a data-based analysis, observation and presentation process of the education system as a whole and its parts.

Compiling educational data

One of the main activities of education monitoring is the utilization of existing data sources on educational opportunities and participation. Most of the data comes from official statistics (e.g. Thuringian State Office for Statistics) or from municipal statistics (e.g. daycare center statistics).

Providing educational data

The education data collected is processed by the education monitoring department into meaningful charts and tables and managed in a database. Of great importance here is the presentation over time and according to socio-structural characteristics. This enables us to track and document developments, conditions and needs in the education sector.

The results of the education monitoring are made available to the public, politicians and administrators in the form of transparent and comprehensible education reports.

Continuous education reporting is a central element of data-based education management. On the basis of valid and continuously available data, Jena's educational landscape is described and analyzed both systemically and in detail. This enables municipal developments in the education sector to be made transparent, needs for action to be identified and thus provides an empirically sound basis for education policy decisions.

All areas of lifelong learning are to be considered in a series of education reports.

First Education Report of the City of Jena 2018 - General education schools and leisure learning for young people in Jena

• Focus: Children and young people of typical school age
• Information on social conditions in Jena, school education at general schools in Jena and non-formal and informal learning

Second Education Report of the City of Jena 2019 - Transitions at the interfaces between school, vocational training and university studies

• Main topics: Vocational orientation, vocational training, university studies
• Information on social conditions in Jena, qualifications at general schools in Jena, vocational orientation, vocational training in Jena, in particular dual training and studying in Jena

The municipalities participating in the nationwide funding program "Bildung integriert" were supported in developing an overall concept for successful learning throughout the course of life. The city of Jena has been developing a data-based municipal education management system as part of this program since 2016. Educational offers were managed and designed on the basis of continuous educational monitoring and strategic goals.

Project period: 01.08.2016 to 31.03.2022