Data

All data attributable to public schools (except for PTA fundraising) was obtained through the Department of Education’s online files that are available to the public. Locating the data was at times frustrating because when I initially found the DOE’s website to be so densely packed with information that the search for data felt daunting. I constructed the minimally viable projects from Progress Reports not only because they were readily available, but also because the information they provided seemed to be on target with the information I wished to express. I realized when I revisited the data to construct the actual capstone project that the DOE makes data available regarding ELA and Math student achievement scores for all grades, and for all years so that these reports more adequately provided the information I wanted to convey. I culled information regarding ethnicity, enrollment and school location from the 2015-2016 EMS SQR, and the 2013-2014 EMS SQR reports (Grades 3 – 8 New York City Results – Test Results – New York City Department of Education). The Fair Student Funding Report is a compilation of school funding for all NYC schools, that provided the information related to Title 1 fundraising (Detailed Reports – Fair Student Funding Detail – New York City Department of Education). Title 1 information for charter schools was located through the New York State Education Department (2016-17 Allocations for Title I Parts A and D:Consolidated Application Update: Accountability : P-12 : NYSED), and PTA Fundraising data was located through a Columbia Journalism School, data driven website, The New York World[1] which created a data rich interactive on PTA Fundraising of schools throughout New York City during the 2013 school year (The New York World). This interactive allows viewers to compare how resources are maintained between schools.

[1] The New York World is published by Columbia Journalism School and named for school founder Joseph Pulitzer’s groundbreaking newspaper of the same name. Reporters are graduates of the Journalism School, and are on year-long post-graduate appointments. The New York World was inspired in part by News 21, a nationwide effort to teach, challenge, and prepare the next generation of news industry leaders, http://www.thenewyorkworld.com/about/.