Why use “k12vis.org”?
Visualizations tell a story at a glance, while tables of numbers can be overwhelming and take time to understand. This website provides a variety of visualizations, so you can pick the best one for the story you want to tell. You can see how you are doing compared to others. An AI-based algorithm allows you to identify similar school districts that you might be able to learn from. You can see how your results vary by student subgroup, year, grade, or test. It is flexible and easy to use, and it is free.
back to topWhat can I do?
The website covers the California Smarter Balance Math and English Language Arts assessments. You can do the following four things:
What kind of visualizations can I see?
There are six basic visualization types, and billions of different charts can be generated. Each basic type is briefly described below:
They can be viewed by clicking the blue buttons at the top. For all charts, the year, grade, test, and student subgroup can be specified. Also, the entities to be compared can be based on either the Entity List you select or districts similar to yours.
back to topHow can I specify what kind of visualization I see?
You can specify which entities to compare using the blue “Entity List” button art the top. You can specify what type of chart you want using the blue “Change Parameters” button at the top.
back to topCan I download the visualization charts?
Yes. Just click the icon in the upper right with a light blue background. A “.png” image file will then download to your computer. You can easily insert the chart into a document, email, or presentation.
back to topCan I download underlying data?
Yes. Just click the button in the upper left, also with a light blue background. A “.csv” text file will then download to your computer. This file can easily be opened in a spreadsheet program and then manipulated however you wish.
back to topCan I find school districts similar to mine?
Yes. Similarity is based on five criteria: ethnicity, parent education level, participation in special programs, region, and enrollment size. These criteria were chosen based on an AI machine learning analysis which explained 90% of the variation among school districts, and it uses the “Manhattan Distance” metric. In order to see how similarity was calculated, just click the blue “Similarity” button at the top. You can compare your school districts with similar school districts using any visualization chart type. You can also weight the five similarity criteria differently using the blue “Change Parameter” button at the top.
back to topAre there things to keep in mind when comparing Smarter Balance assessment results?
Yes. Differences may reflect the effectiveness of curriculum and teaching. However, they may also reflect differences in student demographics, learning from prior years, alignment with curriculum, school resources, students not taking test, student engagement in school and/or student motivation when taking test.
back to topWhat if I have feedback or suggestions?
Please email peterbloomsburgh@gmail.com. They would be very much appreciated.
back to top