SignalEd School Choice Dashboard (Beta)

How to Use SignalEd

Note: This dashboard is in beta. We welcome your feedback—please contact us here if you’d like to discuss further.

Use the following steps to explore how students move between home areas and schools:

Select Mode:
- Home ➔ School: Select one or more districts or zip codes to see where local residents attend school.
- School ➔ Home: Select one or more schools to see which districts or zip codes their students originate from.
Set Search & Filters:
- Search By: Choose 'District' or 'Zip Code' for Home ➔ School, or enter a school's name for School ➔ Home.
- District Type: Select 'Elementary & Unified' or 'Union & Unified.'
- Fiscal Year & Grade Level: Pick a specific fiscal year and grade levels to refine your results.
Map Interaction: In Home ➔ School mode, click areas to select them. In School ➔ Home mode, click schools to select them. Use the search box to find specific districts, zip codes, or schools quickly.
Overlays & Labels: Toggle boundary overlays and show/hide area labels for added context.
Sidebar Data:
- LEA Summary: See aggregated data by Local Education Agency.
- School Details: Explore data for individual schools.
- Origin-Destination Cross Tab: Compare selected origins and schools side-by-side.
Lasso Tool & Controls:
- Lasso: Draw a shape to select multiple schools at once.
- Reset Selection: Clear all current selections and start fresh.
- Clear Selected Schools: Remove currently selected schools while keeping chosen districts/zip codes.
- Pagination: Use Previous/Next to navigate through longer lists.

Data Notes

Data Sources:
- Open Enrollment datasets are provided by the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) and can be found on the ADE Data Collection Reporting page.
- School characteristics (e.g., location, charter status, grade format) come from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and reflect 2022-2023 data.
- These datasets are combined with minimal processing (e.g., standardizing ZIP+4 to ZIP and consolidating 'Unknown' and 'Other'). Some discrepancies exist between ADE and NCES data. For example, NCES excludes certain preschool and specialized schools, causing minor differences from ADE reports.
Data Focus:
- The dashboard focuses on Traditional Public Schools and Charter Schools. Education Saving Account (ESA) voucher data exist at the district and zip code levels but are not included in this release.
Average Daily Membership (ADM): A measure of enrollment over the first 100 school days, accounting for both fractional and full-time students.
- Resident ADM: The number of ADM units originating from a selected district or zip code.
- Attending ADM: The total number of ADM units at a selected school.
Data Limitations:
- ADE censors observations with fewer than 10 ADM units to protect privacy. Such pairs are grouped into an 'Other' category.
- ADE data do not break down ADM by grade level.

Focus on Students and Families: Insights and Opportunities

Key Insights

Enrollment Volatility
- Challenge: Arizona schools face mixed outcomes amid declining birth rates—some thrive, while others close as families choose alternatives (AZCentral).
- Opportunity: Differentiate or improve offerings to address evolving family preferences and stabilize enrollment.
Varying District Influence
- Challenge: Districts and charter networks vary in their ability to attract and retain students, with different 'capture rates' and spheres of influence.
- Opportunity: Use targeted strategies to attract and retain students while expanding your sphere of influence.
Data & Mobility Gaps
- Challenge: Traditional demographic models often miss the impact of school choice on enrollment patterns (AZ School Facilities Board).
- Opportunity: Enhance planning with advanced tools - such as data analytics, causal inference and machine learning — to better understand parental preferences and improve strategic decision-making and operational efficiency (MIT).
Funding & Satisfaction
- Challenge: Because budgets depend on meeting family needs, simply increasing marketing spending doesn't guarantee better enrollment outcomes. Many schools lack insights into how to improve effectively (Tempe News).
- Opportunity: Adopt a customer-focused, data-informed marketing strategy that aligns with families’ diverse preferences. Research from Rice University shows that understanding and engaging families leads to stronger connections and improved enrollment outcomes (EdWeek).

Bespoke Economics Can Help

For additional insights or customized solutions, contact us at matt.o.hom@bespokeecon.com and pjcizek@bespokeecon.com.

We help K-12 institutions attract and retain students by delivering actionable insights from economics, data science, and machine learning—applied with real-world experience in tech and insurance.

Actionable Solutions

Identify Needs: Reveal gaps through segmentation and preference analysis.
Improve Communication: Craft messaging that connects with and supports the diverse needs of all family groups.
Enhance Offerings: Align academic and extracurricular programs with evolving community priorities.
Build Relationships: Foster trust and engagement through proactive outreach.

SignalEd - Your Guide to AZ School Choice

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