Data collected in many biology laboratory classes are on ratio or interval scales where the size interval between adjacent units on the scale is constant, which is a critical requirement for analysis with parametric statistics such as t-tests or analysis of variance. In other cases, such as ratings of disease or behavior, data are collected on…

Students need to know how to discern patterns and make decisions using visual information in our modern economy. However, there are few sources of real-world information available to instructors that give students access to visualizations to help develop their skills in interpreting complex situations using diverse data sources. This article…

School science is often very different from "real world" science. One important difference, and possibly the main one, is that in school science the relationships between variables have often been sanitized -- essentially "cleaned up" -- so that there is very little (and often no) variation in the data from the relationship…

A large body of research suggests that families' engagement in their children's education is a crucial factor in promoting school success for children and youth. Family engagement in school is associated with improved academic achievement and reductions in social and behavioral problems. Research also suggests that collaboration between schools…

Responding to the industry need for professionals to employ data-driven decision-making, educational institutions offer courses in business analytics (BA). Since BA professionals require a unique set of skills different from those found in specific business disciplines, a pedagogical framework to impart such knowledge and skills was developed. The…

Thousands of students around the country have participated in activities using the Data Jam model, creating poetry, songs, videos, or sculpture to improve their data literacy, gain knowledge of local science research, and creatively express their findings. This article introduces the Data Jam model and describes how teachers can use it in…

Using data effectively is a critical skill for the modern school leaders. This case presents a school district where local interest groups are demanding changes regarding school safety and inclusion. Students have the opportunity to respond to a disciplinary equity audit and school climate survey. While interpreting and using data in a meaningful…

Understanding how scientific conclusions are drawn from data is central to learning about the nature of science. Many students struggle with aspects of reasoning from data, including identifying relationships among variables, interpreting graphs, coordinating theory and evidence, and not allowing personal beliefs to outweigh the data when forming…

This article describes a lesson in which high school biology, ecology, environmental science, anatomy, and physiology students can devise hypotheses and test them with scientific data, identify unanswered questions, and design an additional study to answer those questions. This module connects students with exciting research and current science…

The development of a student's ability to make data-driven decisions has become a focus in higher education (Schield 1999; Stephenson and Caravello 2007). Data literacy, the ability to understand and use data to effectively inform decisions, is a fundamental component of information competence (Mandinach and Gummer 2013; Stephenson and Caravello,…

Many preschool classrooms explore plant growth. However, because many plants take a long time to grow, it is often hard to facilitate engagement in some practices (i.e., since change is typically not observable from one day to another, children often forget their prior predictions or cannot recall what plants looked like days or weeks earlier).…

In this article, "havruta," the dominant strategy for textual higher learning where pairs pour over texts slowly to decipher and argue about the meaning with each other, is explored as an appropriate pedagogy. The author describes how to facilitate interpersonal and textual skills in the middle school and high school classrooms. Texts…

This article is aimed at teachers already experienced with activities involving small, student-collected data sets and who are now ready to begin working with large, online data sets collected by scientists and engineers. The authors discuss challenges, instructional strategies, and sources of appropriate lesson plans. With guidance, plus online…

In this book, best-selling author Susan M. Brookhart helps teachers and administrators understand the critical elements and nuances of assessment data and how that information can best be used to inform improvement efforts in the school or district. Readers will learn: (1) What different kinds of data can--and cannot--tell us about student…

Eliciting, responding to, and advancing students' mathematical thinking all lie at the heart of great teaching. In this article, the authors describe a formative assessment approach that teachers can use to learn more about their students' mathematical thinking and inform their instructional decisions. This assessment approach draws on a widely…