Education Statistics Practice Questions
July 6, 1999
1. Determine a Census tract number in Ann Arbor for your school or your home address.
a. For a school, look at
HINT: 261614053 = Tract Number 4053
b. If you are uncertain of the tract number from the map or you are searching for your home address, try:
2. How many 5-17 year olds in your tract speak an Asian language, and do not speak English well or well at all. What are the figures for Washtenaw County and the State of Michigan?
a. Access the American Factfinder at:
If the American Factfinder is down or slow, try Exercise 3 instead.
b. Go to Population and Housing Facts; Click on Detailed Tables
c. Use the scrollbar on the right to see all of the options under TimeFrame
- Single click on the + button of 1990 Census Detailed Tables (STF3)
- Single click on the + button next to People
- Single click on the + button next to Language and Ability to Speak English
- Click the o button next to P28 (age by language spoken at home) so that the button is darkened
d. In the lefthand frame, go to 2. Select Geography and single-click on Browse.
- Single click on the + button next to State
- Click on the square button next to Michigan for a checkmark; then click once on the + button next to Michigan to expand
- Single click on the + button next to County
- Page down to Washtenaw County; click on the square button next to Washtenaw County for a checkmark; then single click on the + button. Next to Washtenaw County to expand it
- Single click on the + button next to Census Tract
- Click on the square button next to your Census Tract for a checkmark; do not click on the expand button
e. In the lefthand frame, go to 3. View Table. Single-click on Create Table.
3. If the American Factfinder is down, you can also retrieve tract information through the Census CD-ROM lookup. However, you cannot compare the State, County and Tract at the same time.
a. Access one of two alternate servers:
Click on State and Smaller Geographic Areas
OR
Census Bureau (http://venus.census.gov/cdrom/lookup/)
Page down and click on STF3A
b. Click on button next to Go to level State--County to darken it. Page down. Single click on Michigan to highlight it. Page up and click on the submit button.
c. Click on button next to Go to level State--County--Census Tract to darken it. Page down. Single click on Washtenaw County to highlight it. Page up and click on the submit button.
d. Click the button next to Retrieve All Areas darkened. Page down. Single click on your Census Tract number to highlight it. Page up and click on button to submit it.
e. The next screen will have the button next to Choose Tables highlighted. Just press the submit button.
f. Page down and click on the square box next to variable P28 in order to checkmark it. Page up and submit.
g. The default on the next screen is HTML format. Just press submit.
4. Make a Census tract map of Washtenaw County which shows the percent which are not high school graduates.
a. Access the Demographic Data Viewer
(http://plue.sedac.ciesin.org/plue/ddviewer/)
b. Click on the Java Edition 3.0 option and wait until the U.S. map shows before proceeding
c. Single click on the map of Michigan and then click on the Get Counties button at the bottom
d. Single click on the Washtenaw County map and then click on the Get Tracts button at the bottom.
e. Single click on Select Variables in the box at the bottom.
f. In the popup Select Variables screen, first click on the box that says Education; then click once on variable pctnhsgr (percent not high school Graduates) in the resulting list. Close screen.
g. Click on Submit Job in the main box.
h. How well does your Census tract do by comparison to the county? If you're not sure,
- You can also close the box in the pop up screen, single click on Statistical Information of the next screen, and then change the default from Statistical Info to Tabular Info
5. What percentage of families (all races) with children under 18 lived in poverty in 1997 as compared to married couple families?
a. Go to the Census Bureau web site (http://www.census.gov/)
b. Find the Subjects A-Z on the lefthand side of the screen an click on P (for poverty).
c. Click on Detailed Historical Tables from the Current Population Survey
d. Click on Poverty
e. Click on Poverty/Families
f. Click on Table 4 and page down until you find the answer.
6. Which eighth graders have better math scores: German or U.S.?
a. Access the National Center for Education Statistics web site.
b. Click on On-Line Data Access Tools.
c. Click on Statistical Compendia: Education-At-A-Glance
d. Use the following searchmath* and germany and united and eighth
7. Which is more important to a teacher's satisfaction - parental support or salary?
a. Access the National Center for Education Statistics web site at:
b. Click on Survey and Program Areas (lefthand frame)
c. Click on Schools and Staffing Survey.
d. Click on Publications List.
e. The report should be close to the top of the next screen. You do not need to download the entire report, just the summary.
f. Try finding the same report through the search engine. Go back to the main NCES screen and click on search in the lefthand frame.
Type in the search box:
teacher satisfaction and salary
8. Which school district has a lower pupil-teacher ratio: Ann Arbor or East Lansing?
b. Click on Reports and Statistics
c. Click on Michigan School Report
d. Get the Information for the Ann Arbor School District and then for the East Lansing School District
9. Which federal agency probably knows the number of children with asthma?
a. Access FEDSTATS (http://www.fedstats.gov/)
b. Search just using the term asthma.
10. How many charter schools are there in the United States?
a. Access AltaVista
b. Search: "charter schools" and (statistics or data)11. Do school uniforms deter school violence?
a. Access Ask ERIC (http://ericir.syr.edu/)
b. Click on Search Button.
c. Click on Search ERIC Database
d. Search
dress codes or school uniforms AS KEYWORD
AND
violence AS KEYWORD
