Foundational Article
Data Literacy Is Not Just Statistics
If you ask most educators what data literacy means, you’re likely to hear answers about graphs, averages, and maybe a spreadsheet. That view, while understandable, sells the concept short—and it shortchanges our students. True data literacy is a rich and interconnected set of competencies that include attention to where data comes from, the representation of data in charts and stories, evidence reasoning and argumentation, the language used to communicate data results, judgment in making decisions with data, and ethics that govern how data should be used. Statistics is just one important leaf on a much larger tree. That larger tree is what this article is about. Grounded in research—much of it from the teacher education literature and international frameworks like PISA—we’ll explore each branch of data literacy, connect it to real classroom moves, and end with a practical self‑assessment so you can reflect on how your current practice hits all six dimensions. No hype, no jargon: just a richer way to think about what it means for students (and ourselves) to be truly data literate.
Read guidance →
