Student Commute to School
Sources: 2010 IDOE student-level data from Corporations; 2011 student performance data.
The methodology for this study is a supply and demand needs assessment. It calculates the number of performing seats available in district and charter schools (and independent schools as a supplement), and subtracts the count from the number of children living in the designated geography. It calculates the difference between supply (performing seats) and demand (students) for each of the two grade divisions (K-8 and 9-12). The data used for this study is from the 2010-2011 academic year. However, in light of the new methodology used by Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) in 2012 to determine school performance, A-F categories under Public Law 221, supply/demand calculations were completed for both 2010–2011 and 2011–2012.
Finally, supply/demand is calculated for each of the 42 Areas. The Areas are ranked by the size of their service gap (difference between supply and demand) and the mean of the ranks across grade division and year, which determines the final rank. The Priority Areas are the 11 areas with the highest overall service gap, based on this ranking system. The study identified these 11
Priority Areas by testing the results of meaning the ranks by year, grade division and school type. The top 11 Areas consistently and reliably remained in the top ranks, while the 12th rank changed. The results of the study are presented by geographic area based on highest
to lowest need. In essence, the three components that are the backbone of this study are supply, demand and service gap.
Supply
Supply is the number of high-performing seats available
within the city; seats in category A or B schools serving each area are counted as the supply for the geographic area. Identifying the number of performing seats
begins with defining performance, measuring the capacity of performing schools, and mapping the geographic distribution of performance across the county. This study relies on the state accountability metrics as defined in Public Law 221, as calculated by IDOE for each year. In Indianapolis, students are tested in grades 3 through 8, and grade 10. IDOE provided the PL 221 results for each school, for 2011 and 2012.
To create a uniform unit of comparison across
schools—regardless of the school’s grade configuration— the grade division analysis disaggregated performance into two grade divisions, K-8 and 9-12. This provides a more precise analysis of the service gaps across the city. Schools performing at the A or B level of each grade division count toward the performing seats (supply) for that grade division. Aggregated to the geographic areas, this approach provides a nuanced assessment of the existing performing seats by grade division.
Performing capacity is the capacity or number of seats
available in grade A and B schools for each grade division, and distributed across the areas they serve. For district schools, the mayor’s charter schools and most Catholic schools, the individual corporation (district, authorizer, or diocese) reported capacity. For the schools that did not provide a capacity number, the capacity was estimated based on the highest enrollment over the past five years. The data presented on capacity and utilization should be interpreted accordingly.
The capacity of a performing school contributed to the seat count of its respective grade division. If the grade configuration of a category A or B school crossed the K-8 and 9-12 grade divisions, the performing capacity was proportioned across the grades in the school. Minor adjustments were made for several schools that had significantly higher enrollment in particular grades or grade divisions. Finally, performing capacity is further proportioned to each neighborhood cluster based on the attendance boundary or enrollment pattern of the school.
For district neighborhood schools, the performing capacity was proportioned to geographic areas based on the percent of overlap between the attendance boundary and the designated geography. For magnet or specialized schools that draw evenly from the entire district,
performing capacity is distributed evenly across the district. For the magnet schools that draw from a bounded area, the school’s supply was distributed across the attendance magnet boundary. The performing capacity of charter schools and independent schools was based on an analysis of the average distance traveled by private and charter students. In the sample population,
Appendix: Detailed Research Methodology
50 percent of charter and independent school students in Indianapolis traveled 2.3 miles and 90 percent traveled less than seven miles. Thus, half of the performing capacity of charter and independent schools was distributed across 2.3-mile radius and half between 2.3 miles and seven miles.
Demand
Demand is the number of students enrolled in a
district or charter school based on where students live—not where they attend school. For districts and charter schools that provided data, each student was assigned an anonymous random identification, each address was mapped, and each was counted in the demand tally for the geographic area in which they lived. Indianapolis Public Schools, MSD of Decatur Township, MSD of Perry Township, MSD of Warren Township, MSD of Washington Township,
MSD of Wayne Township, Town of Speedway Independent Schools, Office of the Mayor Charter Schools, Indiana Math & Science Academy, St. Joan of Arc School and Holy Name School provided data for each student, as of October 5, 2010. This data set is similar to
but not the same as the October 2010 audited enrollment data, and therefore will be slightly different from
published enrollment counts that rely on the school-wide audited enrollment.
For the districts that did not provide data (Beech Grove City Schools, Franklin Township Community School Corporation, MSD of Pike Township and
MSD of Lawrence Township), student data was recreated with audited enrollment for each year, and distributed across the attendance boundary of the schools based on the density of school-age children. For the charter schools (Imagine Schools, Hoosier Academy) and most of the independent schools, a similar methodology distributed students across the mean radius traveled by students (described above). Finally, to calculate the demand for each grade division, IFF counted the total of students living in each designated area by grade division. The grade division sums for each designated area represent the current demand for high-performing school seats.
Service Gap
The service gap is the difference between the number of
students enrolled in schools (demand) and the capacity of category A or B schools (supply). The service gap was calculated for the public (district and charter) schools and students—for each grade divisions (K-8 and 9-12) and for each year (2011 and 2012). In addition to these four analyses of public schools and students, the service gap was calculated for all fully accredited and accredited- freeway independent schools, for each grade division and each year. To identify where the greatest number of children by grade division need access to a high-performing school, for each year, the study ranks each Area based on its service gap. The highest ranked Area (#1) has the largest number of students without access to a high- performing school. The independent schools had limited influence on the ranks. The report thus only presents the 2011 data for independent schools as a supplement. At the core of the study is the rank of Area based on its service gap for public schools, for each grade division, for each year.
Priority Areas
The top 11 Priority Areas have the highest mean rank across the grade divisions (K-8 and 9-12) and across the years (2011 and 2012) for district and charter schools (supply) and children (demand). This methodology intentionally finds the Areas with more persistent need across grade division and time. The mean rank across the grade divisions identifies the Areas with the highest need for K-8 and for 9-12, independently. (As an alternative methodology, for example, raw service gap numbers would skew the Priority Areas toward the K-8 rank due to the larger number of students in the K-8 grades.) The mean rank across the years identifies the Areas with the most persistent need for high-performing seats across time and changes in the performance methodology. The methodology intentionally brings stability and balance to the analysis. The independent schools are not included in the mean calculation for Priority Areas because their inclusion did not significantly alter the service gap or ranking of the Areas.
Student Commute
For student commute out of districts, the IDOE data was used. To analyze student commute patterns from schools, the home address of the student and the school the student attends was mapped and compared.
For the districts and schools that did not provide student level data, no analysis is provided. This data was used to provide two types of analysis. First, IFF analyzed the grade of schools that served each of the designated geographies. For this analysis, student home addresses were grouped into their home geographic areas, and presented in a pie chart that represented the grade of school attended by the students from each geography (see maps 10, 11, 15 and 16). Second, the study examined where students from the Priority Areas were enrolled, the grade and operator of the school they attended, and the distance they commuted to the school.
Data Sources
The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) provided performance data and audited school enrollment for 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, for all schools. Building data and student-level data were requested from each
school district, each charter school authorizer and all the independent schools. All of the district schools,
mayor’s office charter schools and most of the Catholic schools provided building data. Seven of the 11 districts provided student-level data: Indianapolis Public Schools, MSD of Decatur Township, MSD of Perry Township, MSD of Warren Township, MSD of Washington Township, MSD of Wayne Township, Town of Speedway Independent Schools. The mayor’s office charter schools provided data for their schools, and Indiana Math & Science Academy of Ball State provided data. Finally, of the independent schools, St. Joan of Arc School and Holy Name School provided student level data. Shapefiles for mapping were provided by Indiana Spatial Data Portal-Indiana University, IndyGIS at The Official Website of the City of Indianapolis and Marion County. Demographic data comes from the 2000 US Census, 2010 US Census, 2011 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-Year Estimates, and the 2007-2011 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates.