Combine geographic and demographic attributes of school district and
community areas to visually examine the "socioeconomic landscape"
and with text displays using geodemographic analysis on your computer.
The image on the left depicts Benecia Unified, CA
school district (red boundary) with streets and schools. By clicking on the
rightmost school (Semple Elementary School), the profile shown partly at the right
appears. Flexibly view the
map layers that you need to see with the desired "zoom" perspective.
Select the tabular data to display that meet your present analytical
needs.
This section provides access to geodemographic resources
relating to schools and school/community leadership applications
for selected school districts and associated county areas.
The content of this section extends on
related resources and information described at the
http://proximityone.com/slc.htm
.
Setting Up Geodemographic Analysis Applications.
Applications reviewed on this web page
are structured to make use of PCs operating with a Windows operating system.
- Acquire and place geodemographic files on your computer.
Download the zip file containing the materials for your school
district from the school district links described below.
For example, if your district is Catalina Foothills, you would click on the
link m0401760.zip adjacent to that district name.
Expand this zip file on your computer to the folder C:\SCHCOM. You do not have to install the files
in this location. However, usage description (below) assumes this is where the files
are located.
- Get/Install Software. This web page does not advocate use of any particular
software. Applications make use of the ERSI ArcExplorer software
which is available for no fee. Applications that we/you develop using this
software are transportable to advanced GIS software. While the software that
you will use in these initial applications have limited capability, we are using a
plan that is consistent with allowing the knowledge and data resources that you
develop be put to progressively more critical decision and production applications.
To get/install the software, go to the web location:
http://www.esri.com/software/arcexplorer/download2.html
and download ArcExplorer2. Install this on a Windows machine as suggested
in the instructions.
- Start the program. Start the program and File|Open a "map project."
All map projects are located in the folder C:\SCHCOM. Projects are named
in the manner MSSDDDDD.AEP where SS is the FIPS state code (e.g. 04 for Arizona)
and DDDDD is the Federal district code (e.g. 01760 for Catalina Hills).
A map should immediately display.
- Setup completed. This completes setup of the software and data. The next
section reviews suggested operations.
Using the Geodemographic Files. The map project has been structured in a certain
manner. When the map project starts the display, the map shows a "zoom in"
the the "focus district" in the county where located. Unless otherwise noted,
the maps all have a "map extent" of a full county.
If you save the map project, all current attributes of the map project,
including the zoom position in the county will be saved. If you get confused
about the mapping application, simply close the software and re-expand the
original data zip file. You will then be at the original start up settings.
Map "themes" are listed in the leftmost panel. Themes included for most map
projects are county by school district (polygons, msscccu.shp),
schools in the district (points, mssddddds.shp),
county by census blocks (polygons, msscccb.shp), and
roads in the county (lines, msscccr.shp). Each of these themes are briefly
described below.
- School district boundaries. The map screen appears with a focus
on the selected school district (red border). All school districts(s) for the
county have the same red boundary.
Based on Census 2000 TIGER files; 1999-2000 school year.
- Schools. The schools theme shows points that represent school locations.
Schools are depicted as red icons.
Based on US Department of Education 1998-99 Common Core of Data.
School locations were established by Proximity through an "address-matching and geocoding
process." School addresses from the NCES Common Core of Data were matched to the corresponding
TIGER street segment record. This process enables the assignment of the latitude-longitude location
to that school. This process is imprecise for many reasons. Some school address data are incomplete.
Some school addresses cannot be matched to a TIGER line segment. In such cases the centroid of the corresponding
zip code is used to establish location. For large zip code areas, this can result in substantially
incorrect assignments. Using GIS facilities these school locations can be rather easily corrected by
making use of the street theme to assist in moving the school icons to the correct location.
- Census block boundaries. Smaller polygon boundaries within the school district polygon are census block boundaries.
This theme makes use of a black outline.
This is the smallest geographic unit for which data are available. Demographic data
are now available for persons by single years of age by census block.
(these data are not linked into these map files at this time).
Based on Census 2000 TIGER files.
- Roads and streets. Line segment detail for roads and streets in the
county are shown by this theme.
This theme is depicted in a light blue.
These line segments often bound the polygons.
Line segments are typically street segments that extend from one street intersection
to the next.
Based on Census 2000 TIGER files.
Geodemographic Orientation and Analysis Operations. Suggested tips for operations are provided below.
Refer to the software description for more information about operations.
- When the map display starts, the county by district map appears.
Schools appear as icons. The roads/streets theme is displayed. The county by census
blocks theme is not checked/displayed.
- The school district theme displayed is also the "active theme." The active theme
is the one with the "highlight box" around the theme name in the left panel.
- Up to three types of school districts may be displayed: unified,
secondary, elementary.
- Moving school icon locations. You cannot move school icons with this
freeware mapping software. If you have ArcView available, a for-fee product,
you can open these same shapefiles in an ArcView Project and adjust the icon
locations by simply sliding the icon to the desired position.
- To view the map at full extent (so that all parts of the mapped area may be viewed
in the display) click on the Zoom to Full Extent icon --
third toolbar row from top, far left.
- To zoom into an area based on custom window, choose + magnifying glass
and then drag a box over the area to be zoomed.
- To view a selected district of interest follow these steps:
- With the "theme highlight bar" on the top theme, click on Theme|QueryBuilder
- From the Query panel choose, progressively, NAME, =, and the district name of interest.
- Click the button Execute on the same panel.
- Click the "zoom to results" at the bottom of the panel.
- A zoom-in to the district of interest appears.
- Click on any theme layer in the left panel and the them becomes
the active theme.
"Slide" the active theme to manage the display of theme order of
display (how layered/stacked).
- To view attributes of a school, follow these steps:
- Make the schools layer the active theme.
- Select the Identify symbol (third tool row from top, toward center).
- Click left with the the mouse pointer on any school icon.
- The school [CCD] profile appears.
- The school profile could be augmented with any set of additional data.
- How to view school district attributes
- Make the school district layer the active theme.
- Select the Identify symbol (third tool row from top, toward center).
- Click left with the the mouse pointer on any school district area.
- The school district profile appears.
- The school district profile could be augmented with any set of additional data.
- How to view street names
- Set the roads/streets theme to the active theme
(click left on the theme name area in the left panel; the highlight appears).
- Click right in the theme name area and a popup panel appears; go to the
bottom of this panel and select Theme Properties.
- Choose Standard Labels and set the text field selection to FENAME.
- Click OK and the names appear.
- Other adjustments could be made to refine this type of display.
Geodemographics and Visual Analysis in DecisionMaking Applications.
The strengths of this mapping approach is that demographics can be
shown as thematic patterns, school locations and resource centers
can be depicted, address-matched students can be shown as icons
(by attribute such as grade), etc.
Cultural (or any relevant location(s)) could be added as icons. Health
facilities, day care centers, and other general interest locations
could be depicted as icons. Users could assess their relevance for access
or use. Management could use the tools to help determine where to
add or relocate support for such facilities.
Students could be address matched and shown as a dot-density map.
Using a student database where each student record contains the residence
latitude-longitude would enable students to be depicted as icons on the map
display. Different color icons might indicate which school is attended by the
student.
Individuals willing to be available as tutor, big brother, and provide
other such student help resources could be maintained as a theme/layer
and depicted as icons. Queries could be performed by users to determine
locations/information about/ such resources to meet specific locational (eg school)
needs by type of resource needed.
Public and private versions of the mapping operations could be made available
without duplicating development of all of the resources. Confidential matters
could be examined by examining data in a "confidential" data layer.
The same basic set of mapping resources could be distributed for use by a wide
range of users -- without the expense to be borne by the school district
or community for the day to day operation and providing public access
to the mapping resources.
All of the data collection requirements about students, staff, schools, and the
district could be maintained in separate, but relatable databases associated
with point or polygon map layers. This design would promote a method to
minimize redundant data collection.
Geodemographic Resource Files
Arizona
California
Colorado
Illinois
Iowa
Massachusetts
Missouri
Pennsylvania
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