Successful management practices as generators of knowledge to support the decision-making of education system administrators

Mexican educational institutions, like other organizations, face challenges and demands of a society in constant change, while its resources and structures practically remain invariant. New models for alternative resource management to streamline response and adaptation to change, however, focus on business models, whose goals and means differ from those of schools. The objective of this research is to test a knowledge management model to collect and generate knowledge in educational institutions. We analyzed 24 practices that were documented by 46 principals of primary and upper secondary schools, all belonging to the same educational system. The analysis of the documented practices allowed us to identify patterns in the generation and application of knowledge in schools. The results suggest that the identified patterns can be useful in supporting educational system management decision making to evidence common problems and the resources required to solve problems.