Population Change and School Change in the United States

This page showcases a data visualization project about how different states are experiencing racial change in their population and in their schools. 

These maps are the beginning rather than the endpoint of analysis. We expect the maps will lead to fascinating research questions and prompt further exploration. We know that trends differ depending on state and local context, so we hope researchers use these maps to develop mixed-methods and qualitative research questions like: Why have the population demographics changed in my area of focus? What is the meaning of these changes? How is my community experiencing and interpreting these changes? Or why hasn’t my community changed?

This data visualization project helps in site selection for researchers who wish to dig deeper. We have an example mixed-methods paper coming soon and will share it when it is available. Examples of how to dig deeper quantitatively are seen in our publications: Gentrification, Charter Schools, and Enrollment Patterns in Washington, DC: Shared Growth or New Forms of Educational Inequality? and Segregation Now, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever? Racial and Economic Isolation and Dissimilarity in Rural Black Belt Schools in Alabama.

We are aware of the drawbacks with the categories we use. When we show “race” we sometimes capture “ethnicity.” This is particularly apparent in the “Hispanic” classification. We represent the data as we do to keep Census and NCES categorizations consistent. Issues of reduction, like these and others, emphasize limitations of quantitative data and the need for mixed-methods and qualitative investigation.

Also, as noted in other places on the website: If you use these maps in your work or teaching, we ask you to consider donating to support the development of our work: www.kuendowment.org/GeographyEdu