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School District Community and Meaningful Assessments
In several states school districts are coterminous with a county or incorporated city boundary. In these instances it is relatively easy to understand the dynamics of the "community." However, this is not characteristic of most school districts. Many school districts are comprised of parts of more than one incorporated city and located in multiple counties. In these instances, it is more difficult to get a "sense of the community" when the community is viewed as the school district. In school districts that do not align with the boundaries of counties or incorporated cities, many parents and other stakeholders do not even know the approximate total resident population to the school district -- let alone more detailed demographic characteristics. This matters for many reasons. One important reason it matters is that the "success" of a school district needs to be assessed in the context of the "community" that the school district serves. School District A might have a lower "composite report card index" that School District B even when the educational opportunities available to students of District A are superior to those of District B. The mere fact that the students of District B score higher than the students of District A does not necessarily lead to the conclusion that District B offers superior education to the average student. In this example, District A and B might have very different "starting places." The school district community from which students are drawn might be dramatically different between the districts. Meaningful district assessments and report cards need to take the school district community demographics into consideration in order to provide relevant insights. Learning About the School District Community School districts tend to report data about their students. This is a result of state and Federal regulations. In addition, to collect data on a larger population would often be very difficult and beyond financial reach. Census 2000. The Census 2000 School District Special Tabulation (SDST) provides data that describe the "school district community" in great detail. Using the SDST data, it is possible to examine characteristics of the total population of the school district -- as well as the population defined as "grade relevant children enrolled in public school." This latter category, a SDST tabulation universe parallels the student population for which the school district reported as enrolled in the 1999-2000 school year. American Community Survey. For school districts (or counties or places) with population of 20,000 and above, updated demographics are available from the 3-year American Community Survey (ACS -- 2006-2008). In late 2010, updated demographics will be available for all school districts from the 5-year ACS -- 2005-2009. Access Data from Census 2000 & American Community Survey You can compare characteristics of the "school district community" population and housing with those of the "grade relevant children enrolled in public school" using the no cost, no registration Proximity DMI Gateway. Install DMI Gateway on your Windows computer. See this section of the DMI Gateway guide for examples using school districts. |
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