Using a Data Chat to Teach Instructional Interventions: Student Perceptions of Data Literacy in an Assessment Course

Abstract

Recent public policy and research aimed at addressing student-achievement accountability in education may make it prudent for teacher-education programs to explicitly address data literacy as a valid outcome for their graduates. This article examines the changes in perceptions of comfort toward data-literacy behaviors before and after an instructional intervention called a Data Chat for students in a teacher-preparation program. The results suggest that the intervention increased student perceptions of comfort in performing those data-literacy behaviors required for successful data use as a classroom teacher. We contend that data literacy is the new literacy for the next generation of teacher-education graduates.