When it was enacted in 2002, No Child Left Behind sparked controversy. The landmark legislation compelled states to collect data and measure student performance nationwide. Now 15 years later, data is collected for some 50 million students annually. But are we asking the right question? This project explores how Americans who have entered the workforce view their education and links it to the data collected through the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

GOAL

To explore the relationship between NAEP data and views of students who have since entered the workforce to determine the relationship, if any, between school performance and individual success

ROLE
Project lead

DESCRIPTION

This digital exhibit will allow people to access the data collected by No Child Left Behind for their school; filter it by gender, race, income level, educational outcome and other factors; and compare it with data from other schools and demographic groups. Users will also be invited to reflect on their own educational experience. By sharing the stories behind the data, the site aims to help us better understand the true impact of No Child Left Behind.

BACKGROUND

This project began its life as a radio piece in 2002 when No Child Left Behind was first being implemented. Teachers, students, administrators and others were interviewed. In 2015, I returned to the same school district to re-interview teachers, parents and students once again. These audio interviews offer a unique perspective on the impact of measuring educational progress and will be incorporated into a radio piece that will be used to promote the interactive site.

WHY IT MATTERS

NAEP is one of the largest data collection programs in the nation. While efforts have been made to extend the data to measure college graduation rates and other outcomes, there is no collection of viewpoints and outcome measures for individuals later in life.  This project allows individuals, in a crowdsourced-way, to add depth to the data through storytelling and survey responses.

HOW IT WORKS

  • Users are invited to share their thoughts on their education in by uploading a video.

  • The user is asked a series of demographic questions and to identify the school they attended.

  • Their video is displayed along with the associated data for their graduation year from the NAEP database. (Where no data is available only the video will be displayed).

  • Videos are transcribed to allow for keyword tagging and visual mapping.

  • The user can then view stories from fellow students who went to the same school, people who have a shared background or by keyword such as ("dyslexia").

  • Users are invited to share their video and their story on social media.

TOOLS

Python, YouTube Video Transcription, Node.js

Image credit: uludağ sözlük galeri / unknown

MILESTONES

Launch: September 2016
Start Date: 2002
End Date: 2022
Status: In development

PROJECT CREDITS
Kate Stohr, 99 antennas, creator