Every second, Google processes about 99,000 searches, which is a testament to the amount of data right at our fingertips (Flensted 2024). The amount of data in our world has increased exponentially over the last few decades and shows no signs of slowing down. In nearly every sector of the economy, including tech, media, manufacturing, health care, agriculture, finance, education, and retail, data literacy and data science have become essential skills for jobs and innovation. From the job market to everyday life, our opportunities, decisions, and experiences are profoundly shaped by how we produce, consume, and interact with data.
Unfortunately, research shows that student achievement in data literacy skills is declining. In a recent study, the Data Science for Everyone (DS4E) coalition examined student data literacy performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) from 2011–2022. The findings showed a long-term downward trend in scores in Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability, and was greatest for some historically underrepresented student groups, including Black and low-income students (Drozda 2023).
In 2022, the Board on Science Education at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a workshop titled “Foundations of Data Science for Students in Grades K–12.” In a paper commissioned for the workshop, researchers examined the landscape of K–12 data science implementation, including barriers to implementing data science education. According to interviews with teachers across the country, these are some of the most common barriers:
The good news is that The Mathematics Framework for California includes guidance for increasing students’ experiences with data science. Data science, as explored in the
Framework, is a thread that connects investigations into questions that matter to students and meeting content standards and the standards for mathematical practice.
Great Minds® makes knowledge accessible to all in the form of high-quality instructional materials, and data science is no exception. Great Minds has created a unique set of Data Talks in response to the growing number of states nationwide that now require that students have more experience interpreting and working with real data. The Mathematics Framework for California, for example, emphasizes the importance of student exposure to all types of data visualizations, including those that are not standard and those that include multiple variables. The Framework also calls for younger students to get exposure to data science in an introductory way.
Data Talks Fast Facts:
Let’s look at some of the key features found in the entire series of Great Minds Data Talks.
1. Knowledge Building: Great Minds Data Talks expose students to both traditional displays, like bar and line graphs, along with nonstandard data visualizations rarely found in mathematics textbooks. Combining this variety of data representations with real-world contexts allows students to build their data analysis skills while also building their knowledge of topics related to science, history, nutrition, popular culture, and more.
2. Engaging: Real data and relevant contexts engage students’ curiosity and naturally spark knowledge-rich conversations. Great Minds Data Talks cover topics including sports, such as basketball players with the most missed shots and ice hockey championships; weather, such as the impact of wildfires and the movement of tornadoes; animals, such as wolves in Yellowstone and giraffe heights; space, such as trips to the moon and the earth’s orbit around the sun; and much more. The digital format of Data Talks ensures real, up-to-date data sets so that each exercise reflects data in the world around students.
3. Coherent: Coherence is built within the series of Data Talks by using similar displays and topics across grade levels. Connections to Eureka Math2 California® concepts are indicated to teachers within the materials, and coherence across curricula allows these Data Talks to connect topically to Wit & Wisdom®, Geodes®, and PhD Science®. For example, certain Data Talks relate to the Wit & Wisdom and Geodes modules Powerful Forces, Creature Features, A Season of Change, and Good Eating. And connections to PhD Science include the modules on Survival, Weather and Climate, Energy, and Orbit and Rotation.
4. Flexible: Each Data Talk is designed as a short, 10-minute activity that can be facilitated at any point during the instructional day, making them very flexible. The closing of a Data Talk isn’t a landing point, but rather a launch into other research, data, or even an entirely new investigation. This intentional design demonstrates to students how statistical investigations often end with a new beginning—with new questions and the need to learn more. The More page included with each Data Talk provides additional context and information about the Data Talk topic, and teachers can always extend the activity with the ideas presented in the More page.
5. Accessible: Data Talks are low-floor, high-ceiling by design, which means all students can easily access the content, begin the exercise, and then participate at their own level as the exercise unfolds. Each Data Talk begins with a notice and wonder activity, followed by the consistent Understand, Apply, and Reflect routine. This routine helps students build habits of mind that will allow them to unpack any data visualization they come across. Data Talks are also created with the same high quality that characterizes all Great Minds curricula. All the data visualizations are designed with accessibility in mind, and each activity includes features like teacher notes, language support boxes, UDL suggestions, and opportunities for extension.
It has never been more urgent for students to become skilled users of data, which means we must equip teachers with the high-quality materials and guidance they need to build students’ data literacy. Together with teachers, we can use Data Talks to build classrooms with engaged students who have the data analytic knowledge and skills they need for academic success, personal and professional fulfillment, and thoughtful participation in our society.
For more information on Great Minds Data Talks, watch our free webinar, and check out our website.
Sources
California Department of Education. 2023. Mathematics Framework for California Public Schools: Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve. Sacramento, CA: California Department of Education. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/ma/cf/.
Data Science for Everyone. 2023. “K–12 Implementation Models.” Accessed March 1, 2024. https://www.datascience4everyone.org/implement.
Drozda, Zarek. 2023. “Data Science Is Vital to Student Success. So Why Are Outcomes Going Down?” Data Science for Everyone. Accessed March 1, 2024. https://www.datascience4everyone.org/post/data-science-is-vital-to-student-success-so-why-are-outcomes-going-down.
Flensted, Torbjorn. 2024. “How Many People Use Google? Statistics & Facts (2024).” SEO.AI. Accessed March 1, 2024. https://seo.ai/blog/how-many-people-use-google#:~:text=Approximately%2099%2C000%20search%20queries%20are,people%20use%20Google%20each%20day.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Foundations of Data Science for Students in Grades K–12: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26852.
U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics. “Occupations with the Most Growth.” Last modified September 6, 2023. https://www.bls.gov/emp/tables/occupations-most-job-growth.htm.