Race and Crime in Iowa - Using the School Data
HOW TO USE THE SCHOOL DATA-FILE INFORMATION.
This will explain to the Reader(s), who are unfamiliar with using the “Microsoft Excel” data base program, about how to Open and Sort and Save the details found in these School District data files.
These files for the Ames Community School District have two Online file formats: “Portable Document File” (PDF) and “Excel”. When the PDF file is opened online, the details can be read “as is,” but not changed nor “sorted” according to particular “fields” of data. If this PDF file is Saved to the Reader’s computer hard drive, it remains an un-editable PDF document.
When the Excel file is opened using Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program (or perhaps by a different, compatible spreadsheet program), the file information can “sorted” (rearranged) according to any particular “field,” or “order” of those fields which the Reader desires to consider. The Excel file also can be Saved to the Reader’s computer hard drive.
For a “Sort” example, if the Reader desired to know about how student behavioral problems increased from “1st Grade to 6th Grade” for the School Year “2006 to 2007”, according to the “Race” of those students, while the Reader is on the “Crime In Iowa” Home Page, left-single click the link titled “Ames Elementary School Behavior Incidents 2006-2007 Microsoft Excel file”; the File will Open in MS Excel (or it should).
The detailed information, sometimes difficult to comprehend immediately, will be displayed according to the usual Data-Base format of Columns & Rows of “fields” of information or data; here, this will show columns for “School Year, Grade, M/F, Race, Behavior Event, Behavior Resolution, Date.”
To “Sort” the several Fields according to, for example: 1) the “Race” of the students, and then 2) by whether Boys or Girls (“M/F”), and then 3) by “Grade”, the Reader can do the following:
While in Excel, at the Tool Bar at the top of the monitor screen, left-single-click on “Data” and then in that “pull down window,” click on “Sort”. Where it says “Sort by (none)”, click in that little window, and then click on “Race” (it should then say “Sort by Race”). Then click on the little window below that, titled “Then by (none)” and click on “M/F”. And then in the third little window “Then by (none)”, click on “Grade”. Then, to do the “Sort,” click on “OK”, and the results will soon be revealed.
Results should show at the top of the rows: “School Yr - GR - M/F - Race (etc.)”; but “Race” will be the first consideration in the Sort, then “M/F” and then School “Grade.” (It often requires great visual detail to see the “breaking point” in these lengthy statistics, so watch carefully).
In the “Race” column, it begins alphabetically, with “A” for Asian, then “B” for Black (Negro), “H” for Hispanic, “I” for (Native American) Indian, and finally “W” for White (Caucasian).
In the “M/F” column, it has Girls (“F”) first, and then Boys (“M”).
In the “Grade” column, it begins with “0” (or Zero, apparently, Kindergarten), then Grade “1, 2,” and on to “6”.
Scroll down to view the results of these “Behavioral Events”. (When the Data window is used for changes in the “order” of the search, other Sorts will present the same information in different ways, such as the Date of the Behavioral Event, then the Behavioral Event itself, and then the type of Resolution, etc.).
This Excel file can be “Saved” for further use off-line, if the Reader desires to “Sort” these Fields according to the many ways this can be accomplished, to determine what it would reveal. When Saving this file, it will not be Saved to, nor replace, the Online file at <Gardner.Christogenea.org/IowaCrime.html/(FileName)>; therefore it must be Saved to the Reader’s computer hard drive, or flash drive, etc.
Using the above 06-07 Behavior Event example, click the Tool Bar on “File,” then click “Save As”. The “SaveAs” Window’s “File Name” indicates it will be saved as “Elementary Behavior 06-07”.
The Reader is advised to keep the File Name “as is,” or with very few added Indicators, and to be sure to know into which computer Folder this File will go. (Often, the “default” folder for Saving this kind of File is <C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Local Settings\Temp>, i.e., temporary). Save it into a known Folder; don’t lose it!
Whether Online at the Gardner.Christogenea.org website or working Offline with the computer, when finished reviewing and/or Sorting the data, close the File and exit the Excel program, by clicking on File, then Close; when the window asks “Do you want to save the changes...” usually you should click “No.” If this file was Saved to the computer’s hard drive, it is best to NOT Save it with any changes made to it; keep the File in its “original order” as much as possible. To keep the Sort Order that the Reader would not want to labor to obtain a second time, and/or for use at another time, then before Saving it, RE-Name the File as closely to the Original Name as possible; for example, at the end of the File Name, type in an indication of the Sort Order (i.e., “R-MF-G” as for “Race, Male/Female, Grade”. Don’t get confused by adding too much fancy stuff or new Names).
When downloading this particular MS Excel file for the Reader’s computer for personal or Offline use, the Reader himself or herself is responsible for maintaining the pristine file details as found in that or any other downloaded Original Text Excel file. Alterations or Adulterations which are then (mis)represented, whether as that of Gardner.Christogenea.org or one’s self, will not do any more than come back to bite the Reader for their mis-representations, unintentional or not, at unexpected moments.