Introducing the EdData Dashboard
Often people disagree about the facts. But data can help us find common ground. We think good data leads to good decision making. It helps citizens decide what they think about an issue, it helps journalists get the story right, it helps policymakers understand the context of their decisions, and it helps philanthropy triage its dollars.
Education stakeholders asked us to build the EdData Dashboard, and so we did. We hope it will allow you to easily find, explore, and share North Carolina’s education data. The interactive data visualizations — maps, charts, and tables — give an overview of the data at a glance, and allow users to hover to see additional data. We have made notes for clarity where needed and every visualization includes links to the original sources.
Watch the video below for a walkthrough of the unique features of the EdData Dashboard.
Part of our mission at EdNC is to build the architecture for your participation in a statewide conversation about education. So being open source matters to us. That means that we invite you to use the data we have made available on the EdData Dashboard and share it with your friends and colleagues. Each visualization can be individually embedded on your own website, shared on social media and by email, saved to your computer, or printed for your own use. Additionally, the code for the data dashboard is free and available for anyone to replicate, as is the code powering all of EdNC.org.
See below for an example of how an interactive chart may be embedded in a website. Hover over each point to see additional data; click and drag to zoom in areas where the points are clustered; right click to zoom out; click “Explore This Data” to visit the original source; and click on the bottom-right share button to embed, share, save, or print the visualization.
https://www.ednc.org/data-viz/trend-pupil-membership-1989-2016/
As our founder Ferrel Guillory notes, “Data without analysis is junk. Yes, you have to put the facts down. But you also have to array facts, connect dots, and examine time lines to make the facts mean something by which to drive action.”
This is a beta version of the dashboard, and you are part of our review process. If you notice any issues with the data or the functionality, please email us at info@ednc.org to let us know. We plan to update the dashboard every quarter.
At EdNC, we use an iterative, design-thinking approach to all that we do. The dashboard will continue to expand and evolve over time based on what you want and how you use it. Is there additional data you would like us to include? Let us know in the comments below.