ADE Launches New Data Visualization Website
Posted by Josh McGee | Arkansas, Education | April 09, 2010
The Arkansas Department of Education has launched a new data visualization website. Here is the ADE blog post announcing the launch. You can find the new sites here and here. The site, built on a flash framework, provides several tools that allow users to both view individual district data in unique ways and compare districts on various metrics. You should check it out when you get a chance. Between this new tool and the ADE’s data center, people in Arkansas have a wealth of interesting education data at their fingertips.
Some interesting chatter overheard in my office (full of folks who ought to know) regarding this roll-out:
There are serious concerns here about the statistical validity of some of their graphics in particular. And the word is that those responsible have had less training in stats than you and I have, Josh.
I wish I knew more details, but it sounds as if we should at least be careful to consider whether anyone who draws inferences based on these “easy-to-read graphics” is at least as smart as the data…
I agree that this data should be taken to be only suggestive, and as such, strong inferences based on these data visualizations are likely inappropriate. Having that said, more information is almost always better than less. And, now that these visualizations are publicly available, the public is free to critique the methods employed to generate them. This criticism puts pressure on the State to improve and will likely lead to the use of better methods in the future.
Regardless of the validity of the particular methods employed here, I like the fact that the ADE is doing things with their data and is providing that info to the public.
Here is some more info I found on Student Growth Percentiles.