Hello.

my name is Adam.

i work for Newsday

(that's on long island)

once i was a nerdy kid,

like you

NOW i'm a reporter

(who writes computer programs)

(and works with data)

(SO BASICALLY STILL A NERD)

you're probably
asking yourself...

why is that a thing?

why should i care?

here are some reasons:

i need interns

you need jobs

journalism needs saving

and badasses

badasses

prove

their

stories

1.

you need

something interesting

to prove

THEN YOU NEED

A hypothesis

like IT'S science

or something

then you need

a way to test it

(WE CALL THAT DATA)

SOMETIMES you get IT

SOMETIMES YOU MAKE IT IT

FOR EXAMPLE:

AP SCORES

At the request of the St. Petersburg Times, the Pinellas and Hillsborough school districts put together lists of nearly every AP teacher in each county -- about 800 in all -- along with their students' scores on the rigorous, standardized AP tests that accompany them.

"UNDER SOME TEACHERS,

EVERY STUDENT PASSES.

UNDER OTHERS, NONE DO."

Better example:

let's talk about

your cafeteria

"we think the food's

unhealthy"

"we think

we pay

TOO MUCH"

"we think the food

tastes bad'

"we think this place

is gross"

2.

YOU NEED

TO know stuff

(AND YOUR HUNCHES DON'T SUCK)

A THREAT FROM THE UNION

ELECTION DAY

THE HUNCH

The Post matched employee databases from the school district with county voter records. To ensure accuracy, reporters then checked hundreds of records by hand.

"ELECTION DAY CAME

AND THE VAST MAJORITY OF TEACHERS

DIDN'T SHOW UP."

Teacher turnout was 24 percent, the Post found. Although significantly higher than the turnout of other county voters, it wasn't enough to change the outcome of a single district race in August.

In the county, the belief that most teachers don't vote has been talked about -- quietly -- for years.

the rankings

42%: school librarians

33%: History Teachers

32%: Principals/asst. principals

29%: Music teachers

25%: Math teachers

24%: English teachers

22%: Physical ed teachers

20%: Elementary teachers

3.

you need

to be able

to use a computer

(beyond im'ming)

spreadsheets:

excel

Google Docs

databases:

microsoft Access

mysql / sqlite

google fusion tables

for:

mapping

joining

basic stats

programming:

python (django)

javascript

ruby (ruby on rails)

R

google / BOOKS

school

nicar-l

4.

You need TO KNOW

WHAT'S OUT THERE

test results/data

demographic data

national center

for education statistics

(http://nces.ed.gov)

also,

you need to know

what you can get

school/district

budgets

teacher salaries

magnet program

enrollment/application stats

grade distributions

BY CLASS