2015 New York Communities & K-12 Schools GIS Base Project

 

Empowering visions for success ... data resources described here are essential to know where we are, when change might occur and how that change might impact us,  We help leaders and stakeholders calibrate their visions with data-driven measurements of change.  A strategic plan is an essential part of this continuously changing process ... working toward the most successful outcomes.      

 

This section is focused on data and tools to examine characteristics of the New York communities, schools and infrastructure ... to the intersection level of detail. Use these resources to develop/extend/share insights into ways of improving opportunities and outcomes.

 

An overview of the ProximityOne New York communities and K-12 schools demographic-economic GIS project and related data is reviewed here. These same data and tools are available for each state. Install these data and tools on your computer to examine statewide to neighborhood to census block/intersection characteristics. Knit together multi-sourced data to gain insights into patterns and infrastructure for subjects and areas of interest.

 

Optionally examine these current, historical and trending data in combination with demographic-economic projections. Planning for the future ... assess the how, what and where of change between now and 5 years ahead.

 

How you can use these ready-to-use resources:

 • visually collaborate on wide-ranging patterns and geographies in committees/meetings.

 • create maps for integration into stories and reports.

 • view geographic reference maps showing selected levels of detail.

 • view thematic pattern maps of custom areas, neighborhoods, cities, schools, school districts, counties, other.

 • add student, attendance zones and other data; view those data contextually with neighborhoods & other geography.

 • add other subject matter data.

 • add other geography such as census blocks, block groups, census tract, cities, etc.

 • view data in a tabular manner; sort and apply queries.

 • extract data for selected geography for use with other applications.

 

Visual Analysis of Schools & School District Patterns
New York K-12 GIS Project Start-up view; see additional views below

View created with CV XE GIS. Click graphic for larger view.
  -- larger view shows metropolitan area boundaries and names.

The GIS fileset uses the most recent data from:
  • reports by schools, school districts, state & Federal education agencies
  • demographic-economic data from the American Community Survey
  • geographic, demographic, economic data developed by ProximityOne.
The GIS project is available for the U.S. or any state.

Additional GIS Application Views
Rochester CSD, NY (bold black boundary) vicinity; schools as red markers.
Colors show patterns of economic prosperity by neighborhood; median household income,
See color/interval settings in legend at left of map; using GIS tools, adjust interval values and colors.

View created with CV XE GIS. Click graphic for larger view.
  -- larger view illustrates use of mini-profile tool to view attributes of a school & labeling.

Greater Southern Tier (GST) RIC/BOCES NY School Districts (hatch pattern); schools as red markers.
Orange color show urban area by census block.

View created with CV XE GIS. Click graphic for larger view.
  -- larger view illustrates labeling with district name and total enrollment.

Urban/Rural School Districts -- based on the NCES Locale Code
Rural school districts blue fill pattern; urban school districts orange fill pattern.
Click graphic for larger view, showing rural schools as red markers;


Rural Schools -- based on the NCES Locale Code
Rural schools shown as red markers.
Click graphic for larger view, showing rural schools in context of districts.


Additional Views:
  • State, urban areas
  • State, all districts; %children in poverty
  • Pelham; Mt. Vernon; New Rochelle; economic prosperity by neighborhood; labeled with %college graduates
    ---
  • Start-up view of Horseheads GIS project -- uses k12_ny_horseheads.gis project (see below in item 5.)
  • Start-up view of Rome CSD GIS project -- uses k12_ny_rome.gis project (see below in item 5.)
  • Start-up view of New York City GIS project -- uses k12_ny_nyc.gis project (see below in item 5.)

Installing the GIS Project (requires Windows computer with Internet connection)
1. Run the ProximityOne CV XE GIS Installer (only required if not already installed)
... run the CV XE GIS installer
... take all defaults during installation
2. Run the Data Installer -- requires New York Data Installer UserID (not your User Group ID)
... updated 1/26/15 ... if previously installed allow to reinstall with overwrite/update.
... the data installer will guide you through installation step by step.
... project files may not be redistributed whole or in part; shapefiles are not authorized for use with other software.
3. Initial start-up.
... after completing the above steps and with CV XE running (use desktop icon)
... use File>Open>Dialog to open the project file named c:\k12\k12_ny.gis
... the map view shown at top of this section should appear.
4. Additional optional settings.
4.1. Enable full set of CV XE GIS features available to User Group members:
    ... add your User Group ID to the Key edit box in Settings.
4.2. Enable automatic open of the k12_ny.gis project when CV XE is started:
    ... add c:\k12\k12_ny.gis to the Start-up GIS Project edit box in Settings.
5. Additional optional GIS projects.
... open a different GIS project with different start-up settings.
... patterns of economic prosperity; median household income by census tract.
... create a project for any school district, city, county, etc. with custom settings; your additional data.
... use File>Open>Dialog to open the project files named below:
5.1. Horseheads CSD ... c:\k12\k12_ny_horseheads.gis ... start-up view shows:
  ... Horseheads CSD (bold boundary); Horseheads city (hatch pattern); schools; urban area by census block.
5.2. Rome CSD ... c:\k12\k12_ny_rome.gis ... start-up view shows:
  ... Rome CSD (bold boundary); Rome city (hatch pattern); schools; urban area by census block.
5.3. New York City PS ... c:\k12\k12_ny_nyc.gis ... start-up view shows:
  ... zoom into NYC area; thematic pattern of economic prosperity by neighborhood; schools
5.4. Pelham ... c:\k12\k12_ny_pelham.gis ... start-up view shows:
  ... Pelham, Mt. Vernon, New Rochelle area; thematic pattern of economic prosperity by neighborhood; educational attainment; schools

See the CV XE GIS User Guide for information on navigation, creating map views and geospatial analysis.

Layers, Shapefiles & Datasets Included
  • U.S. by state
  • New York metropolitan areas with selected ACS 2013 demographic-economic data
  • New York counties with selected population estimates
  • New York cities, initially set with query for Scottsdale
  • New York 2012-13 public schools and selected attributes -- iterated four times:
      ... showing school name as label (when layer checked)
      ... showing school enrollment as label (when layer checked)
      ... showing school free and reduced lunch fee students as label (when layer checked)
      ... showing school as red markers (when layer checked)
  • New York roads -- TIGER/Line road coverage for selected counties
  • New York census blocks with integrated demographics, urban/rural status, other geographic codes
  • New York cities
  • New York towns/county subdivisions
  • New York census tracts with ACS2013 subject matter ... see list of selected items
  • New York 2013-14 school districts and selected attributes -- iterated four times:
      ... showing school district boundaries (all types) with district name as label (when layer checked)
      ... %grade relevant children by elementary school district (when layer checked)
      ... %grade relevant children by secondary school district (when layer checked)
      ... %grade relevant children by unified school district (when layer checked)
        (shows %grade relevant children as label)
  • Mapquest Open Street Map as tiling base layer
        (shows only with Internet connectivity)

Using the Datasets
Each shapefile has an associated dBase file; for example the schools layers all use the shapefile sch1213_ny.shp.
The file named sch1213_ny.dbf (part of the shapefile) may be opened/viewed/exported.
Use Database>dBrowse to perform these operations; or open the file "sch1213_ny.dbf" directly in Excel or Access.
Caution -- be aware that this feature can permanently modify the file opened.
  ... any changes made to a field value are permanent.
  ... the Zap button permanently deletes all records.
  ... queries/filtering, changing field widths, sorting, and use of Field Location Manager do not affect the dataset.
Refer to CV XE GIS User Guide for more information.

Illustration of using dBrowse to view schools data; click graphic for larger view


ACS 2013 Census Tract Items -- scroll section

ACS 2013 Census Tract Items Field Descriptions -- scroll section
Similar to above list but structured with one row per item/field.
This item/description list can be used is applications as described in A-3 above.

Extending the GIS Project
The GIS project may be extended in several ways. Among the possbilities are:
  • add other layers/shapefiles of different type to to project; e.g., census tracts, roads, cities, other locations.
  • augment/add a school or school district layer/shapefile with performance data.
  • augment/add a school district layer/shapefile with other ACS 2013 demographic-economic data.
  • modify query settings applied to a layer to show other attributes; e.g. schools by locale code.
  • save a modified project with a new name and start-up view.

Related Resources
  • 2012-13 LEA Characteristics Interactive table
    ... view subject matter used in the New York school districts layer/shapefile in this interactive table
    ... national scope table; 18,000+ local education agencies
    ... illustration -- New York school districts ranked on total enrollment:
   
  • 2012-13 Public Schools Characteristics Interactive table
    ... view subject matter used in the New York school layer/shapefile in this interactive table
    ... national scope table; 100,000+ schools
  • ACS School District Demographic-Economic Characteristics Interactive tables
    ...General Demographics
    ...Social Characteristics
    ...Economic Characteristics
    ...Housing Characteristics
  • Children's Demographics by School District
    ... demographic-economic profiles of children by type of enrollment:
    ... Horseheads CSD, NY ... New York City Schools, NY ... Oneida City Schools, NY ... Rome CSD, NY
  • America's Communities
    ... view city demographic-economic profile.
  • Analyzing New York Neighborhood Patterns
    ... use this related GIS project as-is; optionally add layers from this project to the k12_ny.gis project.
  • Metropolitan Areas -- interactive demographic-economic data table
    ... Metro Profiles (include school district summaries)-- click link in left column below to view selected metro