Comparing School Districts

Beaumont ISD Order Description Comparin" rel="nofollow">ing School Districts GOVT 2306 Research Project Professor Tannahill School District Assigned: Beaumont ISD Text Reference: Texas Politics Today, pp. 324-333 Your assignment is to research the profile and performance of the in" rel="nofollow">independent school district assigned to you and to answer the questions below. The data needed to complete the assignment can be found in" rel="nofollow">in the followin" rel="nofollow">ing database: https://schools.texastribune.org/ Good Advice: • You will need good Internet connectivity to browse the database. Use the open lab on campus if your home setup is in" rel="nofollow">inadequate. • You must use the data from the database. Do not try to fin" rel="nofollow">ind the in" rel="nofollow">information from other sources except for the location of the school district. • Do not wait until the day the assignment is due to begin" rel="nofollow">in work. This is a relatively challengin" rel="nofollow">ing assignment that will take time and thought to compete successfully. • Spend time with the website. It is a complex website that is challengin" rel="nofollow">ing to master. Learnin" rel="nofollow">ing how to min" rel="nofollow">ine data from complex databases is a major goal of this assignment. • Read the questions closely before answerin" rel="nofollow">ing them. Students frequently lose poin" rel="nofollow">ints for failin" rel="nofollow">ing to fully answer questions. In particular, if the question asks you to write a paragraph, that means you need to write several sentences. A paragraph is not a sin" rel="nofollow">ingle sentence. As you recall from your English class, paragraphs have topic sentences, several sentences in" rel="nofollow">in the body that develop the topic sentence, and a concludin" rel="nofollow">ing sentence that ties the paragraph together. • Never, never, never copy and paste from a website. The purpose of this assignment is for you to learn how to use a complex database to do research and then write a short report on your work. That in" rel="nofollow">involves fin" rel="nofollow">indin" rel="nofollow">ing data, reportin" rel="nofollow">ing it, and in" rel="nofollow">interpretin" rel="nofollow">ing it. Copyin" rel="nofollow">ing and pastin" rel="nofollow">ing from a website is the opposite of research. It is the opposite of critical thin" rel="nofollow">inkin" rel="nofollow">ing. It is the opposite of what any self-respectin" rel="nofollow">ing college student should do. When I detect that a student has copied and pasted from a source (and it is always obvious), I immediately go in" rel="nofollow">into overdrive lookin" rel="nofollow">ing for opportunities to take off poin" rel="nofollow">ints. Nothin" rel="nofollow">ing irritates me more because it shows me that the student has no in" rel="nofollow">interest in" rel="nofollow">in learnin" rel="nofollow">ing how to thin" rel="nofollow">ink critically and to write about his or her ideas. • Don’t provide in" rel="nofollow">information that has not been requested. Don’t in" rel="nofollow">include in" rel="nofollow">information relevant to question 4 when answerin" rel="nofollow">ing question 3. Don’t stray off topic. • If you use tables and charts in" rel="nofollow">in your report (always a plus if they are well done), be sure to discuss them in" rel="nofollow">in the body of your report. Don’t just stick in" rel="nofollow">in a table and assume the reader will look at it and understand its relevance. Explain" rel="nofollow">in it to the reader. • Use data to back up your conclusions. If you believe that a school district is doin" rel="nofollow">ing well, quote the data that support your conclusion. There are two good ways to use data in" rel="nofollow">in a report. One approach is to state your conclusion and then quote the data that support that conclusion. A second approach is to present data and then state your conclusion based on that data. • Interpret your data. Don’t just copy figures from the website and assume that the reader understands the difference in" rel="nofollow">in two sets of numbers. Explain" rel="nofollow">in what the data show. Poin" rel="nofollow">int out critical differences and similarities. Discuss why the data are important. • Don’t overwhelm the reader with a blizzard of figures. Use data to prove your poin" rel="nofollow">ints, but don’t supply so many data poin" rel="nofollow">ints that the reader is left overwhelmed with numbers. Discussions that read X in" rel="nofollow">increased by 5.3 percent while Y declin" rel="nofollow">ined by 4.8 percent are min" rel="nofollow">ind-numbin" rel="nofollow">ingly borin" rel="nofollow">ing. • The words roughly, approximately, and about in" rel="nofollow">indicate a certain" rel="nofollow">in level of imprecision, perhaps caused by roundin" rel="nofollow">ing. Suppose the website in" rel="nofollow">indicates that a school district has 9,989 students. It would be accurate to say that the district has approximately 10,000 students. Do not, however, say that the district has approximately 9,989 students because that number is exact; it is not approximate. • Be sure to use correct grammar and punctuation. One of the reasons you are in" rel="nofollow">in college is to learn to write correctly. I will take off one poin" rel="nofollow">int for each grammar or punctuation error I come across. No kiddin" rel="nofollow">ing. Here are some common writin" rel="nofollow">ing errors and websites that briefly explain" rel="nofollow">in correct usage: o Differentiatin" rel="nofollow">ing between possessives and plurals: https://www.mhcc.edu/english.aspx?id=1978 o Usin" rel="nofollow">ing apostrophes correctly: https://theoatmeal.com/comics/apostrophe o Avoidin" rel="nofollow">ing run-on sentences: https://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/runons.htm o Avoidin" rel="nofollow">ing sentence fragments: https://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/fragments.htm o Usin" rel="nofollow">ing semicolons correctly: https://theoatmeal.com/comics/semicolon o Matchin" rel="nofollow">ing pronouns with their antecedents: https://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/pronouns.htm o Usin" rel="nofollow">ing commas correctly: https://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/commas.asp Please answer each of the questions by number, treatin" rel="nofollow">ing the assignment as a series of short answer questions. Do not write a sin" rel="nofollow">ingle, unified essay. A good way to complete the project is to copy each question and then in" rel="nofollow">insert your answers after the questions in" rel="nofollow">in a colored type. For example, you may write your answers in" rel="nofollow">in blue or in" rel="nofollow">in green. (One color is sufficient. You don’t need to use a different color for each question.) If you wish, you may attach maps and create tables to add to your report. 1. Where is the district located? [Note: Givin" rel="nofollow">ing a sin" rel="nofollow">ingle street address is not an adequate answer.] (5 pts.) 2. How many students attend the district? (5 pts.) 3. How many students attend public schools statewide? [The database allows you to view statewide data in" rel="nofollow">in addition to in" rel="nofollow">individual district data. (5 pts.)] 4. What is the district’s demographic profile? Write a paragraph in" rel="nofollow">in which you compare and contrast the racial/ethnic makeup of the district’s student body with the racial/ethnic makeup of public school students statewide. (15 pts.) 5. Some youngsters are at significant risk of droppin" rel="nofollow">ing out of school or otherwise failin" rel="nofollow">ing academically because of life circumstances. The followin" rel="nofollow">ing website discusses risk factors for droppin" rel="nofollow">ing out or failin" rel="nofollow">ing: https://www.ets.org/Media/Research/pdf/RD_Connections18.pdf. The Tribune database in" rel="nofollow">includes statistics showin" rel="nofollow">ing the percentage of students with various risk factors for each district and for statewide. Write a paragraph in" rel="nofollow">in which you compare and contrast district students with students statewide in" rel="nofollow">in terms of academic risk factors. Based on the data, would you conclude that the district faces a relatively challengin" rel="nofollow">ing risk environment compared with the risk environment statewide? Discuss. Remember: Risk of droppin" rel="nofollow">ing out is not the same as actually droppin" rel="nofollow">ing out. Do NOT in" rel="nofollow">include actual dropout rates in" rel="nofollow">in your analysis of this question. (15 pts.) 6. The website in" rel="nofollow">includes data showin" rel="nofollow">ing student enrollment in" rel="nofollow">in different programs (bilin" rel="nofollow">ingual/ESL, career and technical, etc.) How does the district compare with statewide averages in" rel="nofollow">in terms of student enrollment in" rel="nofollow">in different programs? (10 pts.) 7. How do you rate the academic performance of the district? Write a paragraph in" rel="nofollow">in which you compare and contrast the academic performance of district students with students statewide. Use at least two of the measures given on the website, discussin" rel="nofollow">ing why each measure is important. Do not use dropout rates and graduation rates as two separate measures. Do not use ACT and SAT scores as two separate measures. You can use them as one measure, but you must in" rel="nofollow">include another measure as well. (20 pts.) 8. How do you rate the quality of the district’s faculty? Write a paragraph comparin" rel="nofollow">ing the strength of district personnel with statewide averages usin" rel="nofollow">ing data found in" rel="nofollow">in the database. Be sure to identify the measures that you consider most appropriate for assessin" rel="nofollow">ing faculty quality. Do NOT use student performance data to address this question. (15 pts.) 9. Assume that you are a parent considerin" rel="nofollow">ing purchasin" rel="nofollow">ing a home in" rel="nofollow">in the district. Would you be comfortable havin" rel="nofollow">ing your children attend its schools? Write a paragraph givin" rel="nofollow">ing your overall evaluation of the district based on the data found at the website. (10 pts.) Gradin" rel="nofollow">ing Criteria • Follow the rules of English grammar and composition. • Make sure that all of your in" rel="nofollow">information is accurate. • Follow in" rel="nofollow">instructions, takin" rel="nofollow">ing care that you answer every question directly and completely. • Present your in" rel="nofollow">information clearly, in" rel="nofollow">includin" rel="nofollow">ing tables and graphs when appropriate. • Provide thoughtful, in" rel="nofollow">insightful analysis.