Abstract

GIS and ACS School District Geodemographics
Track: GIS for Administration, Planning and Policy
Authors: Doug Geverdt

The American Community Survey (ACS) is a nationwide survey from the U.S. Census Bureau that provides a wealth of annually updated demographic, social, economic, and housing data for individual communities and school districts. These data are useful for educational research, planning, and administration, and they offer a substantial improvement over the once-a-decade demographic snapshot previously provided by the decennial census. Although ACS school district data offer new opportunities for analysis, the volume of annual data soon to be available may pose a challenge for many data users. GIS not only provides an excellent solution to help examine and understand school district data in their spatial context, it also helps to identify and communicate demographic conditions and trends. This presentation offers an overview of the school district geodemographic data available from the ACS, and demonstrates how GIS can be used to explore these data.