Current CADSR ProJECTs

Delaware Travel Monitoring System Study (Annual study)

Project leads: Rebecca Gross and Edward Ratledge

This study is conducted for the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT). It provides useful information to policy makers within DelDOT to determine the need for transportation services throughout the State. In addition, the data are spatially mapped utilizing GIS software to provide detailed information for infrastructure planning.

Specifically, we collect information on travel patterns, commute times, mode of transportation (e.g. driving, biking, walking, etc), and assess the use and need for public transportation. Data is being collected in a multi-mode fashion through a telephone survey and an online survey. Respondents are contacted either by telephone (by telephone interviewers in the CADSR survey research lab) using an RDD sampling frame or by mail (for the online portion) using an ABS sampling frame and access the survey online using a unique household ID.​

Alcohol Shipping and Delivery in Delaware Survey (2023)

​Project lead: Rebecca Gross

In this online only study, we are gathering information on how adults (over 21) Delawareans feel about alcohol shipping and delivery to Delaware residences. While this is not currently possible for Delaware residents this survey will help to gauge the level of support for this. Participants are contacted by mail using an ABS sampling frame and acce​ss the survey online using a unique household ID.​ No information collected will be tied to participants household or any identifiable information. 

Nurses in Delaware Survey (2022)

Project lead: Rebecca Gross

An online survey of licensed Delaware nurses (RN, LPN, APRN) is being conducted for the Delaware Division of Public Health, as part of an ongoing study to ensure an adequate supply and distribution of health professionals in Delaware. Survey results will be aggregated and used to help state and local governments, along with employers and educational institutions, plan for an adequate number of nurses throughout Delaware. By learning where nurses work, the form and setting of their employment, how long they plan to stay active in their profession, resources can be targeted to ensure optimal health care for Delaware's residents. In addition, nurses will also be asked for input on various issues like workplace dynamics, the impact of COVID-19 on nursing practice and staffing. Respondents are contacted by mail using a list provided from the Delaware Department of Professional Regulation. Access to the survey online is done using a unique ID​.​

Delaware National Guard Demographic Study and Economic Impact Report

Project lead: Edward Ratledge

This project will include two parts; a Demographic Study and an Economic Impact Report. The Demographic Study tasks include developing a spatial database, examining demographic characteristics of the service area and current guard members, identifying service areas that may be under or over served and where guard members live. A report will be prepared summarizing the methodology and findings of the analysis. The Economic Impact Report tasks include spatial modeling, cost of funding programs and evaluating the economic impact of the guard on the state.

Charter School of WIlmington Feasibility Study

Project lead: Edward Ratledge

This project will address the question “Can Charter School of Wilmington fill and sustain a middle school - 6th to 8th grade, 450 students today - with competition in New Castle County (private, non-public and public) and homeschooling?” A full spectrum analysis of population projections, trends, available students, economics and anthony relevant will be performed with the culmination in a report summarizing the findings in a low-middle-high forecast for the future.

Economic Impact on Delaware’s Economy: The Brownfield Program

Project lead: Edward Ratledge

Utilizing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funding award from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), DNREC will partner with the University of Delaware (UD) to update its study of the economic impact of the State’s Brownfield Development Program with case studies for the certified and completed Brownfield sites that have been through the response program from 2014 to 2022 in order to identify transferable successes and areas where improvements can be made. The updated study will provide information on current uses of former brownfields, including tax base contributions and levels of employment provided to the communities.

This project’s main objective will be forecasting enrollment projections for all Delaware School Districts for 2023 - 2050. The primary research question of this project is to understand the complexity of enrollment in each of the school districts of the state including vocational districts. Many factors need to be accounted for when creating the database from which the projections will be made. Each of the district’s enrollment in theory is found within the spatial confines of its defined district boundaries. However, a subset of the population that the district serves do not attend their intended district for various reasons. A database will be created using the student population of the system from the school year 10-11 through school year 21-22. This will be used to create enrollment profiles in 21-22, the average profile 16-21 and trends observed in each district. A report will present the findings which will be used by each Delaware School District for future plans.

Assessment to Sales Price Study 2023

Project lead: Edward Ratledge

This is an annual project for OMB that addresses the design and execution of a study methodology that will provide for the calibration of the State of Delaware’s Division III Equalization Formula. The study results will be used to determine, for the use in the Division III Formula, the “Total Full Validation” of real property within reach of the State’s sixteen regular school districts and three county-wide vocational districts. As defined by Title 14, Section 1707(b)(1) of the Delaware Code, “Total Full Validation” means the total assessed valuation of taxable real property divided by the 3 most current assessment to sales price ratio for all types of realty. The Assessment to Sales Price Study shall provide an assessment to sales price ratio for each of the nineteen districts and be provided in a summary report.

Delaware Population Consortium

Project lead: Edward C. Ratledge

The latest population projections for the State and Counties 2010-2050 for individual years, race, age and gender were delivered to the Delaware Population Consortium (DPC). Total populations for municipalities during the projection period are also included. The DPC which is made up of state, county and municipal officials interested in population growth/decline was recognized last year in Delaware Code as the official provider of such projections throughout the state. Experimental projections for Census county division and Census tracts are under consideration.

To view the latest projections from DPC click here: Annual Projections from the Delaware Population Consortium

Housing Units

Project lead: John Laznik

CADSR completed a review of the location of all housing units in the State of Delaware and supplied a list of any problems to the Census Bureau prior to the start of the 2020 Census.

GIS and Planning Data Analytical Support Services

Project lead: David Racca

This annual project addresses several data focused efforts to support planning initiatives at DelDOT

• Compilation, processing, integration, and presentation of transportation performance data. Data addressed includes various volume and speed measurements throughout Delaware including data from traffic studies, Bluetooth sensors, national estimates based on cell phone data, speed data from state vehicles, automated counters, and devices associated with sensor loops in intersections.
• Development of tax parcel based land use for identifying trip origins and destinations, to support community level studies and evaluations of travel.
• Study and development of multimodal trip generation estimates.
• Assistance with geographical information system (GIS) data and processing as requested for various Division of Planning projects.
• Development of road network models and information resources to integrate and relate transportation performance data with travel demand.
• Development of high resolution travel demand data sets including a state wide destination data layer, employment estimates, measures of accessibility to destinations, and multimodal trip generation estimates.
• Update of housing allocation models which take county wide projections and predict future land development at the community level.
• Emergency management data support and DEMA/DTI/DHSS coordination.
• Research and demonstrations on how best to deploy state of the art GIS resources, particularly web-based tools, which integrates and makes this large amount of varied transportation data available to planners. This portion of the work also includes development of standards.

Wilmapco Data Assistance 2023

PROJECT LEAD: David Racca

This project supports the WILMAPCO Transportation Justice Plan. CADSR will assist WILMAPCO in further refining its transportation justice areas by conserving housing values and rental prices to roughly assess the relative home proves and rental costs of neighborhoods/subdivisions. An ESRI Shapefile/Mapinfo table for subdivisions/neighborhoods in both New Castle County, Delaware and Cecil County, Maryland showing their classifications for housing and rental prices will be created.

Broadband Project

PROJECT LEAD: John Laznik

As part of federal funding for broadband, Delaware needs to update an inventory of Community Anchor Institutions (CAIs). These are community support organizations that facilitates greater use of broadband service by vulnerable populations, including low-income individuals, unemployed individuals, and aged individuals. CADSR has been tasked with validating the locations of the roughly 281 CAI sites throughout the state of Delaware for The Delaware Department of Technology and Information’s (DTI) in conjunction with the Institute for Public Administration through us of Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

• The periodic report on Education finance, which examines many attributes of the system both at the state and district levels, will be released by June 30.

• The latest report of issues affecting the cost and efficiency of public education will be released by June 30.

• The annual report with estimates of the current market value of all property in each of the school districts has been released to OMB and DOE.

Financing Public Education in Delaware 2022

PROJECT LEAD: Yuliya Brel-Fournier

The report provides a system-wide review of the public education finance system in Delaware and offers details about how public education revenue is raised and spent. Understanding the allocation of resources can drive policy choices and highlight the accountability of the system. Both district and state level analysis will be performed.

Project Lead: John Laznik

Cape Henlopen School District Enrollment Projections 2023-2032

CADSR will obtain source materials from the Cape Henlopen School District through the Delaware Department of Education (DOE) regarding the locations of the September 30, 2021 students for CHSD upon the signing of the working agreement as well as the attribute information about the students that is desired. With this information, along with other appropriate data sets, CADSR will project the enrollment for each grade level over the course of the desired ten years.

2024-25 Cape Henlopen School District Technical Assistance

CADSR staff will contact CHSD staff and determine the materials that are currently available to aide in the creation of the 2024-25 middle school digital feeder patterns. With this information, CADSR will assist in the creation of digital feeder pattern data layers within a geographic information system (GIS) using the appropriate aerial photography, the Sussex County road centerline file, the Sussex County tax parcels, the municipal boundaries from the Office of State Planning Coordination (OSPC) and the school district outlines from the Department of Education in collaboration with CHSD. A few of the primary concerns when creating the data layers are school capacities, transportation issues, current and historical feeder patterns and income distribution. These data layers along with other framework layers (i.e. subdivisions, hydrology, road names..etc) will be used to generate several maps in small and large formats to be used by the District as they see fit.

2023 Redding Consortium Technical Assistance

For this project, CADSR will be defining those records within the plan area tables (currently being maintained for DDOE) that fall within the City of Wilmington boundaries for all four tradition school districts (Brandywine, Christina, Colonial and Red Clay) as well as the NCC Vo-Tech District. When necessary, CADSR staff will split the current plan area record into two records if the address range for the current record is split by the City of Wilmington boundary. The EXTERNAL_ID_CODE field will be used to define the City of Wilmington, since it is currently not being used and future plans for its use do not exist.

2023 Library Service Areas Population Update

After each decennial census, the Delaware Division of Libraries obtains the appropriate data from the US Census Bureau in order to reestablish updated populations for its Library Service areas. CADSR was able to assist DDL in this process through the use of GIS to determine the populations for the 33 brick and mortar publicly funded libraries in the State of Delaware as well as the bookmobiles in Kent and Sussex County.

Town of Ocean View Technical Assistance

Lake Forest School District Enrollment Projections 2022-32

Lake Forest School District, Spring 2021. Create school enrollment projections for School Years 2022-2032. The projections will be based on historical enrollment trends, historical births, and future demographic projections from the Delaware Population Consortium.

City of Wilmington Student Mapping Technical Assistance, Spring 2021

Assist in the verification of public-school students residing in the City of Wilmington as of March 2021.

Delaware Department of Education Maintenance Agreement (Annual project)

Delaware DOE, Annually each school year. Annually update the feeder patterns of the sixteen Delaware school districts using transportation data from the districts transportation supervisors. This will update tax parcels, county road centerline files, municipal boundaries, school boundaries for all public schools in Delaware.

Delaware Department of Education Technical Assistance (Annual project)

Delaware DOE, Annually each school year. Provide eSchool plan area table assistance for all 19 school districts within the State of Delaware. Provide quarterly updates of plan area table to DOE for respective school year based on feedback from individual school districts. Maintain zone header and zone detail tables that interact with the plan area table for the public to access the data on the DOE school locator website.

Creation of 2021-22 Early Childhood Center and 2023-24 Elementary Feeder Patterns

Appoquinimink School District, Fall 2020-Spring 2021. Assist in the creation of new feeder patterns for the appropriate school years in the Appoquinimink School District. Provide technical assistance to the redistricting committee, administration and local school board through the use of a Geographic Information System (GIS).

Cape Henlopen 2021-22 Elementary Feeder Pattern Technical Assistance

Cape Henlopen School District, Fall 2020. Assist in the adjustment of elementary feeder patterns for the 2021-22 school year for Cape Henlopen School District to help reduce current capacity issues.

Policy Issues in Public Education in the US, A Literature Review

PROJECT LEAD: Yuliya Brel-Fournier

The literature review considers the issues of efficiency in financing public education, problems encountered by educators and policymakers on the way of implementing policies aimed at overcoming the achievement gap, as well as success and failures of said policies.

Early Childhood Education Options for Low-Income and Minority Children in Delaware

Project leads: Yuliya Brel-Fournier and Wei-Ming Chen

This paper explores the condition of the early childhood education system (ECE) in Delaware, and the options available to low-income and minority children with respect to pre-K services. Since 1990, the National Education Goals Panel has set a national educational goal for all children in America to start school ‘ready to learn’. Thus, school readiness, which is ‘the child’s ability to use and profit from school,’ is considered vital for children’s success in kindergarten and beyond. Currently, many 3- and 4-year-olds in Delaware are unable to attend any pre-K programs due to the lack of affordable high-quality ECE options. As a result, up to 50% of Delaware’s 5-year-olds come to kindergarten not ready for school. The paper considers what needs to be done to move Delaware from the current situation to a better future. It inquires into what is required in terms of funding and changes in the existing model to improve the availability, accessibility and affordability of pre-K services for all Delaware 3- and 4-year-olds.

Policy Issues in Public Education in the US

Project lead: Yuliya Brel-Fournier

This report analyzes various issues besetting the system of public education in the United States. The issues range from family income and education achievement to after-school and summer programs, from counseling impact to school discipline, and from school year/day length to parental involvement in children’s education. One of the persistent problems considered in the report is how the K-12 system is funded in the country. Therefore, the report, also pays special attention to the question of funding public education in the United States, including financial assistance to local education agencies through Title I, as well as financing early and special education.

Public K-12 Education Funding in the US

Project lead: Yuliya Brel-Fournier

This paper offers a general overview of the public education sustem financing in the United States and in the State of Delaware. It considers the rols of the federal government in education spending, the concept of "adequate" educational programs as well as various formula the states use to collect and allot funding for schools. Finally, it brings an insight into the distribution of the Congressional COVID funding provided by the federal government to school districts as a response to the economic hardships experienced by the country because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Report: Financing Public Education in Delaware 2023; Data updates, Yuliya Brel-Fournier

Financing Public Education in Delaware 2021: State Level Analysis, District Level Analysis

Project lead: Yuliya Brel-Fournier

This is an update of a similar study produced by CADSR in 2019. The current study analyzes investment of financial resources in public education in the State of Delaware after the 2016-2017 school year. It provides a statewide analysis of how the state raises and spends money for/on education and compares the financing of Delaware public education with the neighboring states. The purpose of the study is to offer a system-wide review of how public elementary and secondary education in Delaware is funded. It is important to understand how financial resources are used by the public education system in the state to work out efficient ways of turning dollars in to the necessary resources for districs, schools and classrooms

Energy Use

Project lead: Wei-Ming Chen

[1] Topic: Delaware household Energy Expenditure Mapping Project

This project presents the median household energy expenditure and household income data in Delaware at Census Tracts. The purpose is to identify areas that need energy assistance and provide necessary information for energy affordability policy and program design. Three types of energy expenditures are presented: (1) electricity, (2) gas, and (3) other fuels (oil, kerosene, coal, wood, etc.). The data source is U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), 5-year Estimated (2015-2019). ArcGIS Online is used to make the map and user-friendly application (app).

[2] Topic: Foreign Investment in East Asian Offshore Wind Energy Market

While the first offshore wind turbine was erected in 1991 off the Denmark coast, Asia is catching up rapidly in the recent decade. According to the Global Wind Energy Council, Asia has become a leader in offshore wind and its share in the global wind market is expected to grow from 24 percent in 2019 to 42 percent in 2025. The top five markets are China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Excluding China, the Asian offshore wind market is at the early development stage of development, which provides an excellent opportunity for global investors to enter the market. The study investigates the role of foreign investment in formulating the offshore wind industry in Asia, using Taiwan as a case study.

Report: Delaware 2021 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, Yuliya Brel-Fournier

Report: Delasware 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, Yuliya Brel-Fournier

Report: The National Survey of Children's Health & Childhood Obesity; USA & Delaware, 2016-2021, Yuliya Brel-Fournier

Literature Review: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on School Performance, Yuliya Brel-Fournier

Analysis of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Survey

Project lead: Wei-Ming Chen

The U.S. federal government has initiated the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) since 1984 to annually survey the U.S. adults’ health-related risk behaviors, chronic health conditions, and use of preventive services. The BRFSS in Delaware is named the Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (BRFS), which started in 1990, and the annual sample amount is about 4,000.

Beginning in 2018, CADSR has analyzed the data and three reports have been published for the following: BRFS 2017, BRFS 2018, and BRFS 2019. These reports aim to provide Delaware health policymakers and providers statistical evidence for better policy design, budget allocation, decision making, and service. The newest analysis will be the BRFS 2020 report, which is scheduled to be released in December 2021.

Childhood Obesity Prevalence in the State of Delaware: An Analysis of the Data from the National Surveys of Children’s Health

Project leads: Yuliya Brel-Fournier and Omar Borla

This report examines the prevalence of obesity among children in the State of Delaware using the data from the National Surveys of Children’s Health. It analyzes the odds of a child being obese depending on the child’s race, his/her family poverty level, and the level of education of the child’s parents. The findings are consistent with those of other previous studies that considered childhood obesity rates in this country. They confirm that belonging to a racial minority group, and/or living in a household whose adult members have low levels of education and whose income level defines them as poor, significantly increases the probability of a child being obese or overweight. The report also reviews the extant policies (federal, state, and local) that have been implemented across the State of Delaware to curb and prevent childhood obesity. It concludes that no policies seem to have any significant impact on the rates of childhood obesity in the state and suggests that it might be appropriate to reconsider the policies and find more advantageous ways of spending taxpayers’ dollars. Since the problem of obesity is particularly complex, a concerted effort of many different stakeholders will be required to address it effectively.