REFINE AND DEFINE: Today, the Data Quality Campaign released Data Literacy: It’s About Time, a policy brief focused on defining "data literacy" for educators and set priorities for policy action. The DQC writes that "policies have not gone far enough to promote the skills teachers need to be data literate." (A few recent occurrences might ring a bell--inBloom, anyone?) As a result, the brief serves to offers suggestions to state and federal policymakers to develop educator data literacy, such as "using licensure exams and performance assessments to measure whether educators have needed data literacy skills" prior to entering the classroom.
The paper comes out of a yearlong collaborative effort among two dozen education organizations, including the Council of Chief State School Officers, and the Oregon and Rhode Island education departments. Interested in learning more? Check out the DQC's live stream discussion, "Empowering Teachers with Data," from 1 to 4:30 pm EST.
