Data Collection

This week’s blog entry is about our data collections and where we stand in collecting it. As of right now, I am still trying to decide on my topic and research question. However, my data collection is done, because my teacher suggested that I use the Louisiana Almanac of 2008-2009 for the data. I would just have to analyze the data and give the results in various graphs and numerical summaries.

Even though I really want to do the project on Head Starts in Jefferson Parish because Governor Bobby Jindel wants to end it, I have to choose a different topic. As I was flipping through the almanac, I came across the average composite Louisiana ACT results by district from 2001 to 2007. This really sparked my interest. I also did a web search on google to find ideas about a research question. I found an article that talked about the results of the ACT in 2003. The article states that many of the high school students are not prepared for math and science when entering the basic college level of algebra and biology. Only a fourth made a 24 or higher on the Science section and forty percent made a 22 or higher on the Math section which is level that the students should be at when entering college, while two-thirds score an 18 or higher in the English portion. I think this is an important issue especially for Louisiana students since we are already at a disadvantage. I think I am leaning towards a question about the ACT scores in Louisiana.

An interesting fact is St. Tammany Parish has made the highest ACT composite score for 2006 and 2007 with a score of 21.6 for both years. Also, it is higher than the Louisiana and National average scores for both years. The lowest parish score is East Feliciana with a 15.2 in 2007 and East Carroll with a 15.3 in 2006. Orleans Parish surprisingly only made the lowest 10 once in 2005 with a score of 17.0. The parish ranked 61 out of 66. I’m sure many may be interested in Jefferson Parish’s rank but the Almanac doesn’t give it. But in 2007, Jefferson Parish had a mean composite score of 18.6.