itslikethisnow/state_education_data
0
State Education Data Dashboard
An interactive R Shiny dashboard for analyzing state-level education data, creating composite scores, and identifying market opportunities for professional development services.
Features
Core Functionality
- Data Explorer: Interactive data tables with search, filter, and sort capabilities
- Visualizations: Bar charts, scatter plots, box plots, and US choropleth maps
- Composite Score Builder: Create weighted composite scores with custom normalization
- State Comparison: Side-by-side analysis of multiple states across key metrics
- Export Capabilities: Download filtered data and visualizations
Key Data Categories
- Title II-A funding awards (2021-2024)
- Demographics and poverty statistics
- NAEP science scores
- Education expenditures
- Teacher metrics and salaries
- Professional development usage patterns
- NGSS adoption status
Installation
Required R Packages
install.packages(c(
"shiny",
"shinydashboard",
"DT",
"plotly",
"dplyr",
"readr",
"shinyWidgets",
"shinycssloaders",
"tidyr",
"shinyjs",
"RColorBrewer"
))Running the Dashboard
- Place the data files (
merged_data.csvandvariables.csv) in the dashboard directory - Open R/RStudio and set working directory to the dashboard folder
- Run the application:
shiny::runApp()Usage Guide
Data Explorer Tab
- Use the sidebar to select variables for analysis
- Filter the interactive data table using column filters
- View summary statistics for numeric variables
- Download filtered data as CSV
Visualizations Tab
- Choose chart type: bar chart, scatter plot, box plot, or US map
- For scatter plots: select X and Y variables
- For maps: choose a numeric variable to display geographically
- Use "Highlight Specific States" to emphasize states of interest
- Interactive charts support zooming, panning, and hover details
Composite Scores Tab
- Preset Configurations: Choose from predefined scoring models:
- PD Investment Focus: Emphasizes professional development spending
- Science Alignment Focus: Prioritizes science standards and performance
- Market Opportunity: Highlights states with large student populations and funding
- Custom Scoring:
- Select variables to include in composite score
- Adjust weights using sliders (must sum to 100%)
- Choose normalization for each variable
- Calculate scores and view rankings
- Normalization Options:
- Variables are scaled 0-100 for comparison
- Poverty variables are reverse-scored (lower poverty = higher score)
- Categorical variables (NGSS adoption) receive fixed scores
State Comparison Tab
- Select 2-5 states for comparison
- Choose variables to analyze
- View comparative radar chart (normalized 0-100 scale)
- Download comparison table as CSV
Data Processing Features
Composite Scoring
- Weighted Averages: Combine multiple metrics with custom weights
- Normalization: Min-max scaling (0-100) or z-score standardization
- Missing Data Handling: States with missing data are flagged
- Reverse Scoring: Automatically applied to poverty and student-teacher ratio
Visualization Types
- Bar Charts: Top 20 states for selected variable
- Scatter Plots: Correlation analysis with trend lines
- Box Plots: Distribution comparison across variables
- Choropleth Maps: Geographic patterns using state boundaries
File Structure
dashboard/
├── app.R # Main Shiny application
├── data_processing.R # Helper functions for data manipulation
├── plot_functions.R # Visualization functions
├── merged_data.csv # State education dataset
├── variables.csv # Variable definitions and sources
└── README.md # This documentationData Sources
- U.S. Department of Education (Title II-A funding)
- The Nation's Report Card (NAEP scores, demographics)
- NCES Digest of Education Statistics (expenditures)
- NEA Rankings of the States (teacher data)
- OpenSciEd (NGSS adoption status)
Troubleshooting
Common Issues
- Package Installation: Ensure all required packages are installed
- Data Files: Verify CSV files are in correct directory
- Memory: Large datasets may require increased R memory allocation
- Browser: Use modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge) for optimal performance
Performance Tips
- Limit variable selections for faster processing
- Use preset configurations for quick analysis
- Filter data before creating visualizations
- Close unused browser tabs to free memory
Support
For questions or issues with the dashboard, please refer to the variable definitions in the Help tab or check the R console for error messages.
Version Information
- Built with R 4.0+ and Shiny 1.7+
- Tested on Windows, macOS, and Linux
- Responsive design supports desktop and tablet viewing --- title: State Education Data emoji: 🔥 colorFrom: red colorTo: purple sdk: docker pinned: false ---
Check out the configuration reference at https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/spaces-config-reference
