They look like plain dots on a simple map.

But each dot on the map that University of Pittsburgh researchers are projecting on an office wall is a building block of a cutting-edge system that is changing the way just about everything from enrollment to achievement will be analyzed in the Pittsburgh Public Schools.

Just like a pin stuck in a paper map, each dot represents where a student lives. But the similarity ends there.

The dots carry information about each city student, explained Ken Sochats, director of the Visual Information Systems Center at the University of Pittsburgh, and Bob Regan, a research professor in the Pitt School of Information Sciences. The information can range from socioeconomic background to achievement; just click on the dot, and there it is.

Or look at a group of dots together to profile a school. The pattern can show how near or far away the students live.

It can even show where all the dots can go when a school is closed, and how that changes a school's makeup.

This is the system being used to plot the controversial closing and reorganizing of Pittsburgh's public schools. District administrators proposed earlier this month to close or move 16 schools based on condition of the buildings, size and other factors. The Pitt system didn't choose those schools, but it is analyzing the impact.

While related techniques have been used to tackle business and government problems, Sochats said he believes this is the first time such a system has been used in school analysis.

The technology is so new it is still being developed by the University of Pittsburgh Visual Information Systems Center with the district. The system is named Project VIPER -- Visualizing Information for Pittsburgh Public Schools Education and Research. Production of VIPER began last fall. With school closings on the horizon, a portion of it was pressed into service early.

And for its next feat, VIPER will analyze where each student should be assigned, following rules to be set by the school board.

The humans behind the system like to use the word "visualize." The system enables users to see data as a picture -- a shape or pattern -- rather than as an overwhelming series of numbers. Then the user can click on the most interesting points and "drill down" for explanations in the underlying data.

"Without this visualization, there's no way you could have understood this,'' said Elbie Yaworsky, city school chief technology officer. "It was so clear the things that needed to be addressed.''

As the system is developed, it can be used in a variety of ways, including analyzing dropouts, transfers, educational needs and student achievement at the student, class, teacher or school level.

In the system, there is one dot for each of the 33,796 children enrolled in the district on Jan 4. The dot holds district-provided student data such as whether a student receives free or reduced price lunch or what their race is.

"With statistics, we lose the individual child,'' said Yaworsky. "With visualization, we never lose the child.''

Doing this sophisticated analysis takes time.

Just completing the analysis for the first stage -- the school closing plan -- took four people working full-time for four weeks.

Regan, a research professor in the Pitt School of Information Sciencespreviously worked on training Apollo astronauts on what geological features to look for on the moon.

"That was a lot simpler,'' Regan said.

A demonstration was given for a reporter last week by Regan, Sochats and project supervisors David Perini and Matthew Kelley and consultant Chris Temple. They also work with a city teacher on special assignment, Glenn Ponas.

On the screen appears a single computer page showing colored dots showing where students live who go to Regent Square and Belmar elementary schools, which on the screen are shaped like Monopoly hotels.

Click again and another page appears. The two schools are gone, and the dots -- that is, the students -- are going to a new Homewood Elementary School. The pattern of how close they live to the new school is clear.

Want to know the how many students were assigned and what the demographics of the new school are? Just click again. The information now is on the screen.

This demonstration was designed for a presentation to the school board. In the live system, the user would need to enter a "query'' --that is type in the kind of information needed -- but the response would still be quick, usually a few seconds.

The next stage of addressing school assignments includes students who are being moved directly as a result of the 16 proposed closings and moves. It also involves a yet-to-be-determined number of students whose feeder pattern -- the district's assigned schools -- will change as the district tries to "clean up'' boundaries.

Yaworsky said the next stage has two guidelines: one is to minimize change and the other is to try to devise a plan that can ensure stability for three years.

For the new technology to analyze the assignments, the school board will have to establish a set of rules for school assignments. Discussion of what those rules could be is expected to begin later this month.

Sochats estimated that doing the analysis for the feeder pattern could take five weeks once the rules are established. Yaworsky likens building the visualization system to building a house. He said the architectural plans are being drawn now. But if the plans or rules change later, it would be as difficult as ripping out a room once construction has begun.

The district is collecting public comments by regular mail and a special e-mail address, publichearing@pghboe.net. Along with the district's regular public hearing tonight, a special public hearing will be held March 22.

The board is scheduled to vote on the plan June 22.