GIS3015 Final Project: 2013 ACT® Average Composite Scores and Percent of Graduates Tested

The final project of GIS3015 involved creating a map of 2013 ACT® average composite scores and percents of graduates tested, using data from ACT's website. Project guidelines required that the map be completed as if by an employee of the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics for the Washington Post's use in an article on high school seniors and college entrance scores. Completing the map required utilizing knowledge, skills, and resources accumulated throughout the semester. Some of these skills were separating out data to create different data frames, changing projections of data frames, selecting classification methods, adding data to an Excel spreadsheet to convert to a .csv file, using Joins and Relates to add data to a layer's attribute table, and using proportional symbols.

2013 ACT® Average Composite Scores and Percent of Graduates Tested

Most of the map was completed in ArcMap with adjustments and finishing touches done in Adobe Illustrator. Having two sets of testing data on one map helps potential relationships in the data stand out. Both of these particular sets of data showed regional patterns when viewed on a choropleth map with proportional symbols. The final project was a realistic representation of what to expect in the working world of GIS.