Analyzing Massachusetts Data

INTRODUCTION

Education holds great significance, and I consistently harbor a keen curiosity regarding the academic achievements of students in mathematics. I am particularly intrigued by the educational challenges faced by schools, particularly within the state of Massachusetts, renowned for its exemplary educational standards.

Well, can the math scores we attain in 4th grade have a huge impact not only on our academic lives but professional?

To establish a nation as a cornerstone of innovation, it is imperative to foster the inclination of young citizens toward STEM courses. In this examination, my emphasis was placed on 4th-grade mathematics, as it is at this stage that fundamental mathematical concepts are first introduced.

The ultimate objective was to construct a dashboard that offers insights into the present state of the educational system by addressing the following inquiries:

• How does class size impact college admissions?
• What are the leading school districts in the state in terms of 4th-grade math scores?
• Which high schools exhibit the lowest graduation rates?The Answers
• Class size does not have a substantial impact on a student's college admission prospects.
• A majority of students in Massachusetts schools tend to achieve high grades in 4th-grade math
• Schools with a higher proportion of economically disadvantaged students tend to experience lower college admission rates.

The Data Source

The data required for this project can be accessed on Kaggle, but it's important to note that this data is intended for educational purposes exclusively.

The dataset comprises data from more than 1,800 distinct schools and encompasses 953,748. It contains a wide range of data points such as:

% Graduated

% Attending College

Average Class Size

% Economically Disadvantaged

% MCAS 4th Grade P+A

School Names

District Names

The Analysis

How does class size affect college admission?

To assess the impact of class size on college attendance, I created a scatter plot that illustrates the relationship between class size and the percentage of students attending college.

The scatter plot will allow me to visually assess whether there is a significant correlation between college attendance and class size.

The circular shape of the plot suggests that there is no discernible correlation between these two variables, indicating that changes in class size do not appear to have a significant impact on college attendance.

Upon examining other factors, I chose to emphasize the percentage of economically disadvantaged students, represented by the darker blue circles. It appears that there may be a correlation between the presence of economically disadvantaged students and the percentage of students attending college

The shading of the circle corresponds to the level of economic disadvantage in a school, with darker blue circles indicating a higher degree of economic disadvantage.

It appears that smaller class sizes are associated with lower college attendance rates in general.

The majority of college attendees came from classrooms with a relatively small class size, typically ranging from 12 to 20 students.

4th Grade Math Performance

My primary emphasis is on 4th-grade mathematics because this is the grade level where fundamental mathematical concepts are first introduced.

I was interested in identifying school districts with exemplary performance as well as those facing challenges in this regard.

The field I used for this analysis was? %MCAS? 4th Grade Math P+A which stands for (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System "P" stands for proficient, and "A" stands for advanced.)

From the data given, I wanted to identify districts where the MCAS 4th Grade Math P+A value exceeds the targeted threshold of 50% and compile a list of these districts.

I generated a horizontal bar chart, as depicted in the image (which was enlarged due to the inclusion of 1,861 District Names), to facilitate clearer comparisons and visually distinguish schools that achieved or fell short of the 4th-grade math proficiency standards.

Several schools met this criterion, with the top three districts being Hingham at 91%, Winchester at 90%, and Lynnfield at 86, while the bottom three were River Valley Charter at 22%, Hawlemont, and TEC Connections Academy both at 17%

Graduation Rate

I aimed to identify which of their high schools had the lowest graduation rates, and to accomplish this, I constructed a bar chart to visualize the graduation percentages for each school.

To highlight schools with the lowest graduation percentages, I organized the data in ascending order, ensuring that those with the lowest rates appeared at the top of the list.

In the image above, the high schools with the ten lowest graduation rates are now highlighted in red. By displaying this data in this manner, it opens the door for further inquiries and discussions regarding these particular schools.

For instance, one might question why Curtis Tuft High School has a 0% graduation rate. Is there a challenging curriculum that contributes to this low graduation rate, or are students facing dropout issues?

Overview

When you merge robust data with user-friendly and easily comprehensible visual representations, you can delve into a more profound comprehension of your analysis. Now that we've addressed all our inquiries, we can consolidate it into a comprehensive overview to grasp the full scope of the situation.

Thanks to Tableau, a few straightforward clicks and drags allowed me to amalgamate all the individual data visualizations into a comprehensive Dashboard.

Now, everything I need to know is presented right in front of me in a single unified visual format.

You can access the complete dashboard on Tableau's Public platform through the following link: Massachusetts Education Dashboard

Recommendations

• From the analysis, there was no discernible correlation between class size and college attendance, I would not advise investing in the construction of additional schools with the goal of reducing average class sizes in hopes of boosting the percentage of students attending college.
• The percentage of college attendance was indeed influenced by the percentage of economically disadvantaged students. Therefore, it is crucial to place a greater emphasis on economically disadvantaged students and consider implementing programs and initiatives aimed at supporting students in this demographic.
• Numerous schools have students who excelled in 4th-grade. It might be beneficial to consider a program where teachers from these high-performing schools collaborate with schools that are falling below the 50% benchmark to develop strategies for enhancing their students' math proficiency.

Thank you for your time and for reviewing my project. If you found it valuable or have any feedback, please don't hesitate to contact me