Contemporary schooling is seen to be altering significantly in light of a combined ‘digitisation’ and ‘datafication’ of key processes. This paper examines the nature and conditions of the datafied school by exploring how a relatively prosaic and longstanding school metric (student attendance data) is being produced and used in digital form. Drawing on empirical data taken from in-depth qualitative studies in three contrasting Australian secondary schools, the paper considers ‘anticipatory’, ‘analytical’ and ‘administrative’ aspects of how digitally-mediated attendance data is produced, used and imagined by school staff. Our findings foreground a number of constraints, compromises and inconsistencies that are usually glossed-over in enthusiasms for ‘data-driven’ education. It is argued that these findings highlight the messy realities of schools’ current relationships with digital data, and the broader logics of school datafications.

鉴于关键过程的“数字化”和“数据化”相结合，当代学校教育正在发生着显着变化。本文通过探讨如何制作和使用相对平淡而长期的学校指标（学生出勤率数据）来检查数据学校的性质和条件，并以数字形式对其进行使用。借鉴从澳大利亚三所不同的中学进行的深入定性研究获得的经验数据，该论文考虑了学校职员如何产生，使用和想象数字化出勤率数据的“预期”，“分析”和“行政”方面。我们的研究结果显示出许多限制，折衷和不一致之处，通常会掩盖对“数据驱动”教育的热情。