Oakland Unified School District Uses GIS to Further Academic Achievement

ArcGIS serves as a decision-support tool for Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) administrators and policy makers.  With the help of the Urban Strategies Council, they have analyzed absenteeism in neighborhoods across the city to better understand the spatial patterns and community conditions of the problem.  They also built an "Opportunity mapping"  website so that school staff, service providers, and parentsto can learn where conditions exist that tend to produce positive outcomes for kids, and where opportunity is lacking and the challenges for students are greater.