WORKED EXAMPLE · EXCEL CHART FOR A DATA MEETING
A district’s maths results charted, then the English-learner gap added
A maths coach in New York City’s District 1 needed a chart for Monday’s data meeting. They uploaded the city’s published grades 3–8 maths results, a workbook of seven sheets and over 25,000 rows, and asked for a trend table and a line chart for their district on a new sheet.
found the seven district rows, built the table and the chart, and wrote the note about the missing years and the 2023 change in the tests. Then it added the current English Language Learners as a second line on the same chart, with a comment on the 2023 row.
1The upload: seven sheets of NYC maths results
- 7original sheets, left unchanged
- 7 / 7yearly figures that match the source
- 2lines on one chart after request 2
- 0.18credits for both requests
Open the real files
The source workbook is linked at its official home. The two workbooks are the ones from the run, each with all seven original sheets inside. Download them and open them in Excel.
Where the file comes from: NYC Public Schools InfoHub, “District Math Results 2018–2026”, New York State grades 3–8 mathematics test results by district. Public government statistics. NYC Public Schools has not reviewed or endorsed this example.
01 · THE STARTING FILE
Seven sheets, and only seven rows that matter
The “Math - All” sheet alone has 1,568 rows: every district, every grade and an “All Grades” line, for 2018, 2019 and 2022 to 2026. The district is stored as text (“01”, not 1). There is no 2020 or 2021, and the NOTES sheet says results from 2022 and earlier should not be compared directly with 2023 onwards, when the tests were aligned to new standards.
District| A | B | C | D | E | F | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District | Grade | Year | Category | Number Tested | Mean Scale Score | % Level 3+4 |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | 01 | All Grades | 2026 | All Students | 2934 | 462 | 62.4 |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | 01 | All Grades | 2025 | All Students | 3003 | 463 | 63.0 |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | 01 | All Grades | 2024 | All Students | 2939 | 461 | 60.2 |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | 01 | All Grades | 2023 | All Students | 3036 | 456 | 54.7 |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | 01 | All Grades | 2022 | All Students | 2989 | 601 | 46.2 |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | 01 | All Grades | 2019 | All Students | 3893 | 604 | 52.5 |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | 01 | All Grades | 2018 | All Students | 4283 | 600 | 46.9 |
02 · REQUEST 1
"A chart for Monday’s data meeting"
What the maths coach typed
I need a chart for Monday's data meeting from this NYC results workbook. Use the sheet 'Math - All' and only the rows where District = 01 and Grade = All Grades (one row per year: 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026). 1. Add a new sheet called 'D01 Trend'. 2. On it, put a small table with columns Year, Number Tested and % Level 3+4 (one decimal), oldest year first. 3. Next to the table, add a line chart of % Level 3+4 by year. 4. Under the table, add a one-line note that 2020 and 2021 have no data and that results from 2022 and earlier aren't directly comparable with 2023 onwards (the NOTES sheet explains this). Don't change anything on the existing seven sheets.
What did
- Looked up the District 01, All Grades rows in “Math - All” and took Number Tested and % Level 3+4 for the seven years.
- Added a “D01 Trend” sheet with the table, oldest year first, and % Level 3+4 shown to one decimal.
- Drew a native Excel line chart of % Level 3+4 by year beside the table, with no point for 2020 or 2021.
- Wrote the one-line note under the table about the missing years and the 2023 change.
Year| A | B | C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Year | Number Tested | % Level 3+4 |
| 2 | 2018 | 4283 | 46.9% |
| 3 | 2019 | 3893 | 52.5% |
| 4 | 2022 | 2989 | 46.2% |
| 5 | 2023 | 3036 | 54.7% |
| 6 | 2024 | 2939 | 60.2% |
| 7 | 2025 | 3003 | 63.0% |
| 8 | 2026 | 2934 | 62.4% |
| 9 | |||
| 10 | Note: No data exist for 2020-2021 (exams cancelled/voluntary) and results from 2022 and earlier should not be directly compared with 2023 onwards. | ||
District 01 Math % Level 3+4
- % Level 3+4
We checked it against the source: % Level 3+4 reads 46.9, 52.5, 46.2, 54.7, 60.2, 63.0 and 62.4 for 2018 to 2026, and Number Tested 4,283 down to 2,934, the District 01 All Grades rows exactly. The seven original sheets are identical to the download, cell for cell.
03 · REQUEST 2
"Now add English Language Learners to the same chart"
What the maths coach typed
Now add English Language Learners to the same chart. 1. From the sheet 'Math - ELL', take the rows where District = 01, Grade = All Grades and Category = Current ELL, and add their % Level 3+4 as a new column 'Current ELL % Level 3+4' in the 'D01 Trend' table (same years). 2. Add it as a second line on the existing chart, with a legend showing 'District 01 (all students)' and 'Current ELL'. 3. Put a cell comment on the 2023 row of the table explaining that the drop/jump there is because the 2023 tests were aligned to new standards, so earlier years aren't directly comparable. Keep the first series as it is.
What did
- Took % Level 3+4 for “Current ELL” from the “Math - ELL” sheet, not “Ever ELL” or “Never ELL”, and added it as a new column.
- Added it as a second line on the same chart; the first line is unchanged.
- Put a cell comment on the 2023 row explaining the change in the tests.
- Named the two lines after the column headings, “% Level 3+4” and “Current ELL % Level 3+4”, not “District 01 (all students)” and “Current ELL” as asked. Its finish message said the legend names could not be confirmed and asked for the legend to be checked.
Year| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Year | Number Tested | % Level 3+4 | Current ELL % Level 3+4 |
| 2 | 2018 | 4283 | 46.9% | 26.6% |
| 3 | 2019 | 3893 | 52.5% | 33.3% |
| 4 | 2022 | 2989 | 46.2% | 23.8% |
| 5 | 2023 | 3036 | 54.7% | 18.7% |
| 6 | 2024 | 2939 | 60.2% | 32.7% |
| 7 | 2025 | 3003 | 63.0% | 31.1% |
| 8 | 2026 | 2934 | 62.4% | 37.0% |
| 9 | ||||
| 10 | Note: No data exist for 2020-2021 (exams cancelled/voluntary) and results from 2022 and earlier should not be directly compared with 2023 onwards. | |||
District 01 Math % Level 3+4
- % Level 3+4
- Current ELL % Level 3+4
We checked it against the source: Current ELL reads 26.6, 33.3, 23.8, 18.7, 32.7, 31.1 and 37.0, the “Current ELL” rows exactly; the all-students column is unchanged; the chart has two series; the comment sits on C5, in the 2023 row; the seven original sheets are still identical to the download.
The chart, in the workbook you already have
finds the rows you mean in a large workbook, builds the table and a real Excel chart on a new sheet, and leaves the published data as it was, so the next question goes into the same file.
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