Questions and Answers to Demographic-Level Data

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS TO DEMOGRAPHIC-LEVEL DATA

What kind of information answers the question “WHO ARE WE?”

Why should I spend my time collecting demographic information?

How much does student background contribute to their ability to learn?

How can I use demographic information in helping me to plan for student success?

I want to know more about other kinds of data. Where can I find this information?

What kind of information would be helpful to know about the student?

What kind of information would be helpful to know about the students’ home environment?

What kind of information would be helpful to know about our school environment?

I am not sure how to present the demographic information to our school community. Is there anything that I should consider?

As a superintendent of several schools, I am interested in seeing a comparison of the various demographics in my jurisdiction. Is there an easy way of doing this?

Is there a place where I can get access to information that my students may have already provided?

I am a new principal at this school and I don’t know much about the community in which the school is located. How can I quickly find out the demographics of this community without doing a survey?

My school community is based in an area thought to have a high number of youth involved in the criminal justice system. I want to understand what kinds of crimes are being committed in my school community. Where can I get this information?

I would like to collect some information on the students in my class. I want this task to be a learning experience for the student simultaneously. Is there some way that I can manage this?

I want to better understand the needs of the students in my school so that we can help overcome some of the health and social issues presented by our students. Where can I go to get help in obtaining this information?

I would like to create a paper and pencil survey for my students and families to complete. Are there some already developed that I can use?

Whenever I distribute surveys hardly any of them are returned to the school. Is there a way that I can do this on line during class time?

I have all the demographic information I need. How do I use this information to help me to understand my EQAO results? (Elementary)

I have all the demographic information I need. How do I use this information to help me to understand my EQAO results? (Secondary)

DEMOGRAPHIC-LEVEL DATA

What is demographic-level data?

Demographic information is just one component of many measures of data that should be considered when making sense of student achievement. Demographic data refers to the characteristics of our population (e.g., school), which most often includes age, gender, education level, socioeconomic status and other characteristics relevant to the understanding of student achievement. Descriptive data answers the question “WHO ARE WE?”, tells us who our clients are (both students and parents), and who the staff are as service providers. This data is often referred to as contextual data as it is important in understanding not only who we are but is essential in clarifying other achievement based results.

Why is demographic information important?

Educators are daily made aware of the factors outside of their control that, nonetheless, exert a powerful influence on student achievement. Personal, family and community factors and the students’ own unique response to these influence their progress in school. Some kids enter school with a wealth of knowledge and early language experiences, and others do not. Some kids come to school rested, fed and energized while others do not. Some students have changed schools many times, or miss school often, while others attend regularly. Some communities have significant populations of students learning English as a second language, while others are perhaps dealing with trauma, upheaval and immigration. Rural students travel longer distances to get to school and rural communities have more variation in community demographics than compact urban school areas. Some communities have experienced job losses and other traumas. Some schools house special programs that may make the student demographics different than the surrounding community. Some students have to work to help support their families, while others have plentiful resources, time and recreational activities. Some schools have parent communities that have time, energy and resources to raise funds for books and trips and other enriching experiences for students. In other communities, parents do not have the time or resources. Some students are engaged in learning, and some are not. All of these factors and many others affect how students learn on a day-to-day basis.

Historically, student background (or demographics) had been thought to be predictive and deterministic of student ability and achievement. It was further thought that these background factors were static in nature, leaving the influence of the school environment negligible. In fact most research had suggested that student achievement was accounted for mostly by background factors (80%) while the school experiences accounted for the remaining 20%. More recently, Marzano (2003) has challenged these findings and assumptions by suggesting that many background factors are dynamic in nature and thus changeable by students’ school experiences. In order to accomplish this, first teachers and administrators need to know the demographic makeup of the school, classrooms, and individual students.

How can demographic-level data be used?

To evaluate how the school community and individual classrooms have changed over the years.

e.g., How has student enrollment changed over the past 5 years?

To identify and understand the current needs of the school community and individual classrooms.

e.g., What is the gender split across classrooms? How many children in my classroom have never been exposed to French before?

To modify current or implement new strategies to meet the needs of the school community and individual classrooms.

e.g., What is my current ESL enrollment and how must I change my teaching/programs to address the change?

Schools that are committed to improving student learning use data to guide school improvement planning and implementation. Dr. Victoria Bernhardt’s work has added much clarity to the discussion of the role of demographics in interpretation and use of school achievement data for improving student learning. Understanding student achievement requires Multiple Measures of Data, which interact with each other in known ways.

(See for a review).

Types of demographic-level data

Student-level data

Gender

Ethnicity

Native language

Second language

Preschool attendance

Special education needs

Type of school transportation

Student employment

Student mobility

Home environment-level data

Family size

Family structure

Family employment

Immigration status

Socioeconomic status

Family income

Financial needs

Family educational levels

Home language

Involvement in school activities

Involvement with child’s learning

School environment-level data

Type of school

Number of classrooms

Enrollment

Teacher/student ratio

Attendance

Drop out rate

Number of teachers

Number of students with special needs

Community location

Number of student cross boundary transfers

Grants or awards

After school programs

Extracurricular activities

Tutoring programs

Community support programs

Counseling services

Facilities and equipment

Staff characteristics

Teacher turnover

Teacher attendance

Teacher involvement in extracurricular activities

How should demographic information be presented?

!Remember! At the individual level, demographic data is personal information about the students, parents, and teachers in your school community (e.g. age, family income, # years of education, etc.). Although the data is to be used in an aggregated format for school communities, some of your data may be sensitive information. Discretion needs to be used when presenting this information to your community and stakeholders.

Progress focus: Consider privacy issues and public perceptions and present demographic data in a manner that highlights progress of the students. Data should be presented for constructive planning and for demonstrating success, but not for blaming or for excusing results.

Achievement focus: Present only the data needed to understand achievement levels, patterns or trends.

Visual focus: Where possible, present visual comparisons to avoid using actual numbers or labels for factors such as income levels. Mapping demographic data can be helpful in larger jurisdictions, but may be of limited usefulness at the school level.

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Education focus: Focus on the educational efforts and strategies in the school and community in presenting demographics and achievement data.

DEMOGRAPHIC DATA SOURCES

STUDENT-LEVEL DATA

Student level data can be obtained from the O.S.R.’s. Much of this information and more can also be obtained from the EQAO results which report demographic information as well as self-reported information such as home environment, computer access etc.

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BECOME FAMILIAR WITH YOUR COMMUNITY DEMOGRAPHIC DATA

Statistics Canada provides you with your community demographics at the link below. Browse around and get a feel for the nature of community demographics. Think about family and community influences on students’ achievements (census data).

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SIGN YOUR SCHOOL UP FOR E-STAT!

E-STAT is useful for school administrators and teachers for locating and presenting demographic information. It is free to educational institutions. The E-STAT data available will allow you to get demographic data for neighborhoods around your school. In most cases, this is adequate for your school community demographic needs. In less populated rural areas, or any other areas with large variation in family economic, educational and other factors, the distribution of these demographics across the population will be more useful than any data using ‘average’ statistics.

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FOR QUICKLY CHANGING URBAN COMMUNITIES

Additional data may be obtained from the social planning council in your area.

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NEIGHBORHOOD CRIME STATISTICS

Know more about your community needs by viewing the local Police Crime Statistics (by neighborhood).

►Ottawa Police Service:

►Eastern Region - OPP Contacts:

CREATING DEMOGRAPHIC SURVEYS

In order to understand your student population and learning characteristics better, you may want to collect specific information from them directly via class, school or district surveys.

STATISTICS CANADA’S CENSUS AT SCHOOL PROJECTS

This project was designed to “develop statistical literacy skills in students”, but it is equally useful for developing statistical literacy skills of teachers and administrators. It provides some non-confidential student survey questions that you can administer to students, and then compare your students’ responses to those of students across Ontario and Canada.

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VOICES AND CHOICES: PLANNING FOR SCHOOL HEALTH

Participate in National surveys such as “Voices and Choices: Planning for school Health” a practical, do-it-yourself, on-line, strategic planning tool for school communities in Canada. It engages young people in identifying their health- and school-related needs and in developing and implementing strategies to address these needs.

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DOWNLOAD SAMPLE SURVEYS

Available from this site (email for permission), sample surveys can be downloaded and used in your schools to gather relevant demographic information.

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CREATE YOUR OWN ONLINE SURVEY

Create your own online and affordable surveys for students, teachers, parents, or community partners.

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SAMPLE DEMOGRAPHIC EXERCISE

JUMP IN! Analyze a sample set of EQAO assessment results

Analysis of school data is an iterative process of making an observation, forming one or more hypotheses about reasons for that result, and retaining or rejecting these hypotheses as more information is reviewed. Where a hypothesis cannot be confirmed or rejected with available data, record what additional data is needed for clarification.

If possible, you may wish to form two teams for this activity, working out of earshot of each other. At the end of the activity, the two teams can present and compare their findings. If they come to similar conclusions, it will improve confidence in the process and in their ability to be successful at interpreting demographic data. If each team generates some unique interpretations, it will underscore the importance of bringing different viewpoints and knowledge bases to the process. These data sets represent only a small portion of available school assessment and demographic data, but it’s a manageable portion for a start-up activity.

At the end of this process, you should have formed several manageable conclusions about

•areas of strength to celebrate

•areas of need to focus on in planning

•educated guesses about reasons for each strength and need

•specific implications for additional data needed to clarify reasons,

•general implications for more detailed planning in terms ofarea of focus, desired results, possible strategies, assessments, resources, people, and timelines.

Choose an example:

Elementary ExampleSecondary Example
ELEMENTARY EXAMPLE

In an elementary school in Eastern Ontario, 45% of grade 3 students achieved levels 3 and 4 on the Grade 3 EQAO reading test. Interpret this result by paying particular attention to the demographic data obtained about this group of students.

Grade 3 Demographics:

Born in Canada89%

First Language at home other than English50%

Gender65% males, 35% females

Average Number of schools attended before grade 33

Attended preschool20%

Identified with a special need25%

Previously referred to First Words 35%

Single parent families48%

Number of late arrivals /month10

Number of days teacher absent/month4

French Immersionno

Family income55% below $40,000/year

Questions

Review each available demographic factor and reflect on how that data may clarify reasons for the EQAO result.
Observe or predict effects on results if the data are disaggregated (broken down) for that factor (e.g., girls/boys), again to try to clarify reasons for these results.
Continue this process of generating hypotheses about reasons for achievement results, seeking data to confirm or reject your hypotheses.

Write your conclusions (sample conclusion)

Observation – Judgment – Reasons – Implications

Students’ achievement of 45% at Levels 3 and 4 in reading is an area of need. Our group of grade 3 students last year (currently in grade 4) had some particular needs. This group consisted of a majority of boys that may no be as proficient at reading. Further this group of children, although not in the French immersion program, speaks predominantly another language other than English at home. This is a highly transient group of children that attended on average 3 schools before grade 3. The lack of school continuity and support in the English language at home could be contributing to the grade 3 achievement scores. Many of the children are part of single-family homes where the parent is working long hours to support the family. This situation makes it difficult for the children to have support with their schoolwork. The children also have unique needs with a quarter of them having special needs and a third being previously serviced by First Words. Their challenges with language were evident from a young age. Having said this, the teacher was also absent from the classroom more than average due to personal circumstances that may have affected the continuity for the students. These results imply that we should……………(to address the needs of this group).

SECONDARY EXAMPLE

In high school in Eastern Ontario, 27% of grade 9 students achieved levels 3 and 4 on the Applied EQAO mathematics test. Interpret this result by paying particular attention to the demographic data obtained about this group of students.

Grade 9 Demographics:

Born in Canada91%

First Language at home other than English38%

Gender53% males, 47% females

Average Number of schools attended before grade 94

Identified with a special need28%

Single parent families20%

Number of late arrivals /month15

Number of suspensions 3

Number of days teacher absent/month1

French Immersionno

Family income30% below $40,000/year

Student employed80% yes

Attendance at tutoring15%

Questions

Review each available demographic factor and reflect on how that data may clarify reasons for the EQAO result.
Observe or predict effects on results if the data are disaggregated (broken down) for that factor (e.g., girls/boys), again to try to clarify reasons for these results.
Continue this process of generating hypotheses about reasons for achievement results, seeking data to confirm or reject your hypotheses.

Write your conclusions (sample conclusion)

Observation – Judgment – Reasons – Implications

Student achievement of 27% in Applied Math is consistent with the province for this test. The majority of students writing this exam come from 2 parent families with moderate level incomes. The students do however have part-time jobs. The gender was equally split and three-quarters speak another language at home other than English. This group of kids is persistently late for school, experience some suspensions, and rarely show up for extra tutoring in Math. These results would suggest that our school may overcome some of these demographics by………(programs, services, etc.).

SAMPLE DEMOGRAPHIC SPREADSHEETS

Student Demographics
2000 / 2001 / 2002 / 2003 / 2004 / 2005
Total Enrollment by Grade Levels:
Junior-Kindergarten
Kindergarten
Grade 1
Grade 2
Grade 3
Grade 4
Grade 5
Grade 6
Grade 7
Grade 8
Grade 9
Grade 10
Grade 11
Grade 12
Number of Admissions
Average Class Size
Attendance
Tardies
Mobility
Breakfast Programs
Drop Outs
Suspensions
Graduation Rates
Retentions
Post-graduate College Attendance Rates
Post-graduate Employment Rates
Native Language:
English
French
Other
English Learners
Special Education:
utism
Behavior Disorders
Early Childhood Sp Ed
Hearing impaired
Learning Disability
Physical Disability
Multi-disabled
Speech/Language Impaired
Other
School
Numbers and Percentages of Students by Grade Level and Gender
2001-02 to 2005-06
Grade Level / Gender / 2001-02
(n= ) / 2002-03
(n= ) / 2003-04
(n= ) / 2004-05
(n= ) / 2005-06
(n= )
Student Mobility
by Grade Level, 2002-03 to 2005-06
Grade Level / Number of Moves / 2002-03
(n= ) / 2003-04
(n= ) / 2004-05
(n= ) / 2005-06
(n= )
Special Education Numbers
2002-03 to 2005-06
Learning Impairment / 2002-03 / 2003-04 / 2004-05 / 2005-06
Autism
Behavior disorders
Early childhood special education
Hearing impaired
Learning disabilities
Multi-disabled
Speech and language impaired
Total Number
School Special Education
by Grade Level, 2002-03 to 2005-06
Learning Impairment / Grade Level / 2002-03
(n= ) / 2003-04
(n= ) / 2004-05
(n= ) / 2005-06
(n= )
Teaching Experience by Grade Level and Teacher, 2005-06
Grade Level / Teacher / Years of Experience