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In February 2023, the Data Science 4 Everyone team shared that groundbreaking bipartisan legislation had been introduced by Representatives Stevens (D-MI), Baird (R-IN), Beyer (D-VA), and Kim (R-CA). The Data Science and Literacy Act is a response to widespread need for data literacy and data science education across K-12 and higher education. It seeks to fund professional development, new curricula, and STEM equity programs amidst a backdrop of rising demand for data science-related careers. You can view a press release about the legislation by Rep. Kim here, and one by Rep. Stevens here. If enacted, the Data Science and Literacy Act would award funding for data science education to K-12 schools and institutions of higher education. The bill has received support from nearly 20 education policy and data professional organizations, such as the American Statistical Association (ASA). Data Science 4 Everyone co-sponsored a Letter of Support for the legislation, which has so far garnered more than 140 individual signatures and over 40 organizational signatures. However, the fight for data science and literacy education is far from over. In his article, Brandon Paykamian explores the positive impacts that the Data Science and Literacy Act would create. The legislation’s combination of professional development for data science instructors, robust curricula, and a focus on equity and support for marginalized groups of students will be essential to meet workforce demands both in data science specific careers, and across a wide range of other careers that demand data literate thinkers. Take a look at the article below for more background on the legislation and the long-lasting educational impacts that it would have.

Change-makers from policy, philanthropy, industry and STEM education joined our 2022 Commitments Campaign. We received over 60 commitments that would impact over 2 million students, 90k teachers, and 8k school districts. At the beginning of 2023, we were able to connect with some commitment-makers and learn more about the progress they’ve made on their commitments. Needless to say, the Data Science 4 Everyone community is hard at work creating data science change! As our commitment-makers continue to work towards creating data science education change, here are some of the big issues they are tackling together: Teacher preparation: Several commitment updates, ranging from school districts to higher education, emphasized teacher preparation and professional development. For example, SUNY Fredonia received NSF funding to build its teacher preparation program and InSTEP with Data at the Friday Institute publicly launched their free professional learning platform. Similarly, the Utah State Board of Education is currently focusing on training teachers to implement a data science program for the 2023-2024 school year. Growing existing data science programs: Many schools and districts saw remarkable growth in their data science programming. Oxnard Union High School District grew their data science enrollment from 65 to 350 students. KIPP NYC, which has over 1,000 total enrolled students, embedded data science across the lower grades and across subjects. San Diego Unified School District also grew their data science curriculum, with the subject now being offered in middle school and in high school to Data Science 4. Resource creation: A variety of curriculum providers and education-related organizations created or expanded their data science education resource offerings. For example, CodeVA created three data science sequences, which includes forty-three lessons, that are available for free to Virginia educators. On a larger scale, NetApp partnered with UNESCO and the World’s Largest Lesson to share the impact of data with children worldwide. We’ve selected commitment updates from some of our coalition members who joined the Commitments Campaign and are excited to share them with you below. Click below to learn more about what they’ve accomplished so far! We look forward to seeing what our commitment-makers will accomplish in 2023! If you participated in the 2022 Commitments Campaign, you can share your impact updates with us here at any time.

By: Zarek Drozda, Program Director, Data Science 4 Everyone In the last decade, data has become a new frontier that is ripe for exploration and analysis. And in order to live up to America’s ideals, its spirit of innovation, and its push toward equality, today’s students must be empowered with the data literacy skills they need to succeed. Yet when it comes to this particular challenge, our education system is still rooted in the past – when computers did not exist and data analysis and insights were calculated by hand. “Data Science Is Vital to Student Success. So Why Are Outcomes Going Down?” examines the results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Overall, the NAEP results indicate that student achievement in data science skill sets declined significantly compared to other content areas – leaving our most vulnerable students without fundamental data skills. Drozda highlights how data skills are crucial in preparing students for personal and professional success in the data age. Read the report to find recommendations that schools and districts can begin to implement to prepare all students for the data revolution. A strong first step towards the expansion of data science and literacy education is the introduction of the Data Science and Literacy Act of 2023 – which was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives as a bipartisan effort supported by Representatives Stevens (D-MI), Baird (R-IN), Beyer (D-VA), and Kim (R-CA). The new legislation serves as an opportunity to foster data literacy for K-12 students and beyond. Once passed, the bill will provide grants to schools & colleges that aim to increase access to data science and literacy education. Show your support for this legislation by adding your name to a letter of support addressed to Congress. In partnership with the American Statistical Association, DS4E is proud to organize this letter that will increase the likelihood of the Data Science and Literacy Act of 2023 being filed into law.

The U.S. Department of Education has launched the Raise the Bar: STEM Excellence for All Students initiative, which is designed to strengthen STEM education nationwide. The new initiative unites government, nonprofits, professional organizations, industries, philanthropies, and other community stakeholders in taking bold action towards breaking down long-standing barriers for student success in STEM fields. To support the initiative, Data Science 4 Everyone (DS4E) made a commitment to assist 100+ school districts in leveraging ARP and other funds for piloting and scaling data science education programs – which will impact approximately 200,000 students – with the priority of serving Title I (~30%) and rural (~30%) communities. With this commitment, DS4E will launch working groups in 10 states to expand teacher training pathways into emerging technology education and will launch a research and development campaign to promote the engagement of students with disabilities and other learning differences in data science education by 2025. Learn more about the initiative below.

The demand for high-quality, engaging, and relatable datasets is soaring as the demand for K-12 data science — and its close cousins, machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI)—grows. Indeed, early research shows that a student’s choice of dataset has a substantial impact on their engagement! There are already many datasets freely available online, or ready to be provided by industry partners. Unfortunately, using these datasets in classrooms or curricula often requires additional work to take a dataset designed for a specific purpose and audience and adapt it to be accessible and relevant to a K-12 student. This work can be a barrier for educators. Data Science for Everyone (DS4E) coalition members Emmanuel Schanzer (Bootstrap) and Dan Schneider (Code.org), have developed an in depth specification guide that offers a pathway for individuals to find, clean, document, and upload datasets that can be used in K-12 data science tools. Read the full blog and learn more about these efforts here. You can find the complete guide here.

We’ve submitted FOUR proposals for SXSW EDU 2023 and voting has just opened! Will you help us get there? Keep reading to learn about each of our sessions and how to vote. Quick links - vote here or read more about each session below! Why are dollars going to data literacy? Policy change making data science “the new basic” Workshop: Bring Your Subject into the Data Age Data Science for Everyone? How to Move the Needle How to Vote - it’s quick! Log in or create a SXSW PanelPicker account. Use the links for each session, or search for them by title. Vote for as many sessions as you like! For extra points, leave a comment and share with your network! Why are dollars going to data literacy? - vote here! New investments addressing a massive skill gap have the power to strengthen a globally-competitive workforce, prepare a generation of problem-solvers, and meet the data revolution head-on. Key players from philanthropy and industry are funding efforts to increase data literacy for every K-12 student. Join this panel to learn about how investments in innovative learning environments, talent development, and coalitions for change are building capacity and equitable pipelines for our modern world. Speakers: Nancy Lue, Valhalla Foundation Evan Heit, National Science Foundation Sham Mustafa, Correlation One Policy change making data science “the new basic” - vote here! States and districts across the country are rethinking how we connect what kids learn in school to the skills they really need. From redesigning math pathways, to using stimulus funding to boost Career & Technical Education, data science is at the core of many of these efforts. Join this panel to discuss the models for change we’re seeing in states and districts like Virginia, Nebraska, and San Diego Unified to make data science literacy skills as fundamental as reading and writing. Speakers: Joshua Elder, Siegel Family Endowment Stephanie Melville, San Diego Unified School District and IES McKenzie Snow, Office of the Governor, Commonwealth of Virginia Katie Graham, Nebraska Department of Education Workshop: Bring Your Subject into the Data Age - vote here! Heard of the hooplah for data science? We have you covered. This interactive workshop will preview lesson plans and ideas for how to integrate modern data science thinking and methods to your school subject. Whether it be math, science, social studies, or history, we will showcase examples of successful integration, and demo our approach for helping students build their data literacy and sense-making. Data science should be for everyone - teaching it across subjects is how we can get there. Facilitators: Emmanuel Schanzer, Bootstrap World & Brown University Kathi Fisler, Bootstrap World & Brown University Meet-up: Data Science for Everyone? How to Move the Needle - vote here! The information age has already arrived - careers, daily life, and knowledge itself are being transformed by massive amounts of data. What will it take to ensure every student is prepared by graduation? What are the resources, the infrastructure, the policy, and the community we need to turn data science from a must-have to a must-teach? We wish to bring together anyone passionate about data science - teachers, policymakers, industry leaders, parents - to discuss tangible ways to move the needle Facilitators: Lindsey Henderson, Utah State Board of Education Nancy Lue, Valhalla Foundation We hope to see you in Austin next year!

Data Science for Everyone supports schools and districts interested in introducing data science curriculum through a variety of program options—from incorporating data science in existing classes to piloting new courses—that prioritize data science content and curricula across disciplines. Many schools, districts, and states, such as the ones in the case studies above, have already integrated data science into K-12 education through new standards, pilot course programs, and expanded pathways. We are gathering student testimonials to learn more about their experiences with these programs and see what data science looks like in the classroom. One school creating new data science opportunities is Khan Lab School, which which is piloting an innovative data science course for grades 9-12. We caught up with Sal Khan (founder of Khan Lab School), Chris Lippi (Math Specialist at Khan Lab School), and several students to hear about the program. Watch the full video below, and check out other student voices on our YouTube channel.

Senator Alex Padilla, together with Senators Cory Booker and Sherrod Brown, is leading the push to increase both student access and quality of data science education to ensure all students keep pace with the needs of our increasingly data-centric world. The letter urges the Senate Appropriations Committee to invest an additional $60 million in the development and implementation of effective interventions to support data science education. Read the full letter here.

By: Kristin Hunter-Thomson DS4E coalition-member, Kristin Hunter-Thomson, highlights the importance of actively integrating data literacy skills and pedagogy into Pre-Service Teaching programs in a recent op-ed. Hunter-Thomson explains that in order for teachers to be capable of teaching data literacy skills to students, they must be skilled in the topic as well. Read the full article here.

Read the article by Steven D. Levitt, author of the book Freakonomics and host of the People I (Mostly) Admire podcast, in EdWeek (Opinion). Throughout the piece, Levitt highlights the importance of adding data science education to current math prep standards to help students prepare for college and careers. Image: Ben Currie for Education Week

An op-ed published by DS4E commitment-makers, ASSISTments, reveals how far behind U.S. math standards are in comparison to other countries. The article highlights the importance of data science and data literacy for our student's future, and how joining our commitments conference can help. Read the full article here.

By Jason Bates The National Science Foundation aims to expand the data science education pathways while solving community issues. Considering the many challenges in filling the workforce gap between academia and industry, the NSF hopes to help tackle this problem by supporting programs designed to help students add data science expertise to their skillset. To learn more about their efforts, read the full report here.