by Laurelle Banta
Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurellebanta)
New York City has a diverse population with a significant portion of people from immigrant backgrounds. The NYC school system caters to thousands of children all over the city and to help keep track of school performance, NYC's education department tracks, records, and publishes data on its students. In this project, I cover data from NYC high schools on:
- SAT scores by schools
- School attendance
- Class size
- AP test results
- Graduation outcomes
- Demographics
- And parent, teacher, and student school surveys
The main purpose of this project is to investigate correlations between demographics and school performance in New York City schools. I analyze and visualize the data based on school, school district, and borough.
Several demographic factors correlated with SAT scores.
- A significant percentage of students in English Language-Learner (ELL) programs in a school had a negative correlation with average SAT Scores. This is logical given that the standard SAT is administered in English. The exam tests students in high-level English Reading and Writing comprehension. Non-native speakers may not have the same level of comprehension as a native speaker. Lower average scores were particularly concentrated in boroughs where the percentage of Non-native speakers were high, for example, the Bronx. Students in these areas may live in neighborhoods or homes where English is not the spoken language.
- School Safety rating from teachers and students had a weak correlation with a school's average SAT scores. I conclude that school safety is a factor in a school's average SAT scores, but it is not a unique factor.
- The percentage of Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) program students had a significant negative correlation with a school's SAT scores. FRL can be used as a proxy for household income because qualifying for the program is based on how close a household income is to the federal poverty level. Schools with a higher percentage of low-income students tended to have lower averages on the SAT compared to schools where there was a low percentage of students using the FRL program. Student's from higher-income households are more likely to have the resources and time to have tutors or prep courses for the SAT compared to their peers in lower-income households.
For further analysis, I want to research racial differences on average SAT scores. A student's race had one of the largest correlations with SAT Scores. Schools with a higher percentage of Black and Hispanic students, on average, had lower average SAT Scores compared to schools with a higher percentage of White and Asian students. The data suggests that the SAT has racial disparities. Researching why there is a large disparity and solutions to close the gap would be helpful for this section of the project.
The disparity was particularly noticeable for schools with a significant percentage of Hispanic students. This correlated with the percentage of ELL and students on FRL.