The Internet School Neighborhood Assessment Protocol leverages advancements in geospatial data to understand the relationship between early education outcomes and the physical spaces in which learning takes place.

Drawing on the work of Dr. Candice Odgers and colleagues, this protocol adapts virtual systematic social observation of neighborhoods to school-specific neighborhood contexts. Using Google Street View, iSNAP coders virtually “walk” around a school neighborhood, coding for developmentally relevant attributes within the proximal neighborhood and direct school grounds. These data are then aggregated into indices and scales which can be used to characterize the built environment in statistical models evaluating heterogeneity across implementation and effectiveness of education policies and programs.

More detailed information about the development and application of iSNAP, including the list of items we coded, demonstration videos, and training materials is available on our Resources page.

iSNAP was created by Dr. Dana Charles McCoy and Emily C. Hanno at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Dr. Terri J. Sabol at the Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, with the generous support of the Institute for Education Sciences.