This article discusses how each of the papers in this special issue explored some combination of subject, audience, and data scientist perspectives with an eye toward helping students situate their relationship to data. Specifically, within the data scientist perspective, the papers examined a variety of ways in which students can relate to data…

In institutional research, modern data mining approaches are seldom considered to address predictive analytics problems. The goal of this paper is to highlight the advantages of tree-based machine learning algorithms over classic (logistic) regression methods for data-informed decision making in higher education problems, and stress the success of…

Data can be a powerful tool for self-evaluation, goal setting, and advocacy in the school library. Regardless of the grade level or the size of the student body, any school library has meaningful data to mine and learn from. Basic data such as circulation numbers can impact a myriad of areas relevant to student learning such as collection…

It is an exhilarating and important time for conducting research on learning, with unprecedented quantities of data available. There is a danger, however, in thinking that with enough data, the numbers speak for themselves. In fact, with larger amounts of data, theory plays an ever-more critical role in analysis. In this introduction to the…

This paper identifies some of the main challenges of data governance modelling in the context of learning analytics for higher education institutions, and discusses the critical factors for designing data governance models for learning analytics. It identifies three fundamental common challenges that cut across any learning analytics data…

In this study, we used a paper-pencil questionnaire to investigate whether teachers, administrators, and parents differed in their preferences and accuracy when interpreting visual data displays for decision making. For the data analysis, we used nonparametric tests due to violations of distributional assumptions for using parametric tests. We…

School leaders are often drowning in data but are unsure which forms of data will help them create a portrait of student achievement that will motivate staff to look beyond simple trends and delve deeper into root causes. Teachers often wish for more guidance on the kinds of data analysis and teaching strategies that will help them move the needle…

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…

Statistical literacy is a vital component of numeracy. Students need to learn to critically evaluate and interpret statistical information if they are to become informed citizens. This article examines a Year 5 unit of work that uses the data collection and analysis cycle within a sustainability context.

Every day, students collect, organize, and analyze data to make decisions. In this data-driven world, people need to assess how much trust they can place in summary statistics. The results of every survey and the safety of every drug that undergoes a clinical trial depend on the correct application of appropriate statistics. Recognizing the…

This tool and its supporting resources are intended to help education leaders understand and assess equitable access data to support a root-cause analysis and, ultimately, draft a State Plan to Ensure Equitable Access to Excellent Educators. The activities in this tool introduce metrics, address staff capacity for analyzing equitable access data,…

There is much agreement among chemical education researchers that expertise in chemistry depends in part on the ability to coordinate understanding of phenomena on three levels: macroscopic (observable), sub-microscopic (atoms, molecules, and ions) and symbolic (chemical equations, graphs, etc.). We hypothesize this "level-coordination…

There is extensive research on the benefits of making data-informed decisions, but research also contains evidence many educators incorrectly interpret student data. Meanwhile, the types of detailed labeling on over-the-counter medication have been shown to improve use of "non"-medication products, as well. However, data systems most…

The "Next-Generation Science Standards" emphasize the importance of teaching the practices of science alongside content ideas and crosscutting concepts (NGSS Lead States 2013). Chief among these practices is the ability to gather, assess, analyze, and interpret data. Authentic inquiry near the leading-edge of science offers a wonderful…

This inquiry-based activity for high school students introduces concepts of ecology and the importance of data analysis to science. Using an investigative case, students generate independent questions about birds, access Cornell Lab of Ornithology online resources to collect data, organize and graph data using Excel, and make claims based on…