Two Individual Data Visualizations

Ming Jin Yong - ACAD274 Designing Interactive Data Structures

This project brings together two data sources: Stanford's SEDA county-level test-score metrics (by subject, grade, and demographic group) and the FCC's Form 477 broadband deployment figures.

The goal is to explore how variations in fixed broadband availability correlate with student performance trends across gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status at the country level.

Visualization 1: Consumer Fixed Broadband vs. Mean Score (Economically Disadvantaged)

This visualization displays a scatter plot correlating the number of Consumer Fixed Broadband Connections per County (x-axis) with the Mean Academic Score for Economically Disadvantaged Students (y-axis). Each point represents a specific data entry (e.g., a county in a specific year/subject). A linear regression line (yellow) is overlaid to indicate the general trend.

Scatter plot of Consumer Fixed Broadband Connections per County vs. Mean Score (Econ. Disadvantaged Students)

Analysis: The plot reveals a weak positive correlation between the number of consumer fixed broadband connections per county and the mean test scores of economically disadvantaged students, indicated by the slightly upward-sloping trendline. While counties with more connections tend to show slightly higher average scores for this group, the effect is minimal. The most prominent feature remains the high variance in performance scores, particularly in counties with fewer connections (left side of the plot). This suggests that while connectivity might play a minor role, other factors—such as socioeconomic conditions, school funding, and local resources—are significantly more influential on the academic outcomes of economically disadvantaged students.

Visualization 2: Average Student Scores Over Time (Overall vs. Economically Disadvantaged)

This line chart tracks the average standardized test scores for two student groups—all students (beige line) and economically disadvantaged students (cyan line)—from 2009 to 2019 across all counties, subjects, and grade levels included in the dataset. The y-axis represents the mean score relative to a baseline (standardized scores often center around 0).

Line chart showing average student scores over time for all students and economically disadvantaged students

Analysis: The visualization highlights a persistent achievement gap between economically disadvantaged students and the overall student population throughout the decade. Both groups experienced a slight increase in average scores peaking around 2013-2014, followed by a gradual decline. Notably, the decline appears slightly more pronounced for economically disadvantaged students in the latter half of the period. While the scores fluctuated, the gap remained relatively consistent, suggesting systemic factors beyond just year-to-year variations influencing the performance disparity. This trend underscores the ongoing challenges faced by economically disadvantaged students in achieving academic parity.

Data Table

This section displays the underlying data used for the visualizations, broken down into relevant categories.

County & Connectivity Information

state_fips_code state_name state_abbrev county_fips_code county_name year connections_consumer_fixed connections_non_consumer_fixed connections_total_fixed
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Overall Performance

county_fips_code year subject grade_level mean_score_all_students se_score_all_students assessments_count_all_students
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Performance by Gender

county_fips_code year subject grade_level mean_score_male se_score_male assessments_count_male mean_score_female se_score_female assessments_count_female
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Performance by Economic Status

county_fips_code year subject grade_level mean_score_econ_disadvantaged se_score_econ_disadvantaged assessments_count_econ_disadvantaged
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Performance by Race/Ethnicity

county_fips_code year subject grade_level Multiracial (Mean, SE, Count) Two+ Races (Mean, SE, Count) Other Ethnicity (Mean, SE, Count) Black (Mean, SE, Count) Hispanic (Mean, SE, Count) White (Mean, SE, Count) Asian (Mean, SE, Count) Native American (Mean, SE, Count)
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Performance by Intersectional Groups

county_fips_code year subject grade_level White/Asian (Mean, SE, Count) White/Black (Mean, SE, Count) White/Hispanic (Mean, SE, Count) White/Native (Mean, SE, Count)
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Data Sources