The design of indicator systems, the role of education in universities, and the role of inspectors/advisers: a discussion and a case study

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Abstract
Herbert A. Simon's concepts of the design of complex systems are used as a framework in which to describe the development of an indicator system. The implications for Education as a discipline and for the structure of the education service are considered. Propositions include the need to consider design in contradistinction to science and the advisability of reconceptualizing the roles of educational inspectors. As educational decisions are devolved to school sites, inspectors have one of the few educational roles left in local education authorities: monitoring schools, assessing effectiveness. It is a role which can develop fruitfully if regarded as encompassing mainly the provision of feedback on outcomes and the collaborative design of systems that work. Reactivity (behavioural impact) should be the prime criterion when indicator systems are evaluated in terms of the standard canons of research practice.

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