Data Literacy For Student Achievement

Schools are under increasing pressure to address issues of student achievement. These issues include teaching ways to make data driven instructional choices. Teachers must be able to comprehend, interpret and use assessment data to make instructional choices. This article discusses how to promote data literacy for teacher candidates. A seven step process aimed at increasing student achievement through data literacy is provided. Background Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind legislation (2001), school districts have used student assessment scores to track and report areas of strength and weakness to the public. More recently, the U.S. Department of Education announced its hope to increase state-wide initiatives that promote data-informed decision making in public schools. In November 2009 Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced the final application for the Race to the Top Fund, a statewide competition to link student performance data with student achievement (U.S. Department of Education, 2009a). States responded to the competition by creating longitudinal data systems that track student achievement (Aarons, 2009). In January 2010, the House and Senate of the Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill that allows Tennessee‟s Value Added student achievement data (TVASS) to be used as part of teachers ‟ evaluations