Describe your idea:

Mapumental uses a number of variables to display maps. I want another variable – that of schools

DCSF is at present prototyping a School Report Card along the lines of NY http://tinyurl.com/6gpqrf

It will grade every school in England based on hard (exams etc) and soft (eg pastoral care) criteria

I’m sure MySoc could do it better. You just need the data. There is no valid reason why the DCSF should refuse to let you have it

MySoc could then, with a little thought, compute an alternative grade for each school. Better still, allow users to choose the criteria that are important to THEM and calculate – on the fly – a new personalised grade AND display the results in Mapumental or similar

What problem does it solve?:

It reduces political control of our school performance data. It gives power to the people to decide what is important to THEM and to see how their local schools compare against national and regional benchmarks.

It allows educational performance data, as well as ’soft’ to be used for the public good.

There is a world-view within the state sector of the educational establishment that ‘they’ know best. They believe that they are the only people who can deliver this information to the public. MySociety can show them they are wrong.

With the right design, it may even encourage schools to embrace 21st century technology and publish – in an appropriate format – some of this data themselves.

Type of idea: New feature for an existing project