We are living through a Fourth Industrial Revolution, according to Chairman Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum, a transformation that will impact how educators prepare K-12 students for the future of work. Advance CTE, a national association comprised of career and technical education (CTE) state directors, is working together with a growing list of states and advocates to help public education address the evolving nature of work. Tomorrow’s graduates need a new skillset for college and career readiness.
Advance CTE and other experts argue that data literacy is that essential skill in today’s data-driven workforce. Data literacy is the ability to gather, understand, communicate and use data to guide and enhance operational performance. It includes a civic component, teaching students about the social effects of big data and helping them become savvy producers and consumers of data. It is also a vital source of leverage in today’s job market, capturing a highly sought-after skill that is increasingly required in paid roles.
Today, companies are collecting more data than ever before, using it to drive sales and optimize performance. ExcelinEd now hosts an interactive map showing the growing percentage of job listings recommending or requiring data skills in each state. The national average is now one in four. Sectors with vacancies and new jobs now correlate with the industries leading the push for data skills. Yet NAEP findings show student performance in data analysis and related skills have fallen. Could bringing data science to the K-12 curriculum help address this skill gap?
Educators, policymakers and labor-force leaders believe this is where public education should head. Data science is now an emerging subject area in K-12 education, combining computer science, statistics and mathematics with a growing emphasis on data ethics and civic responsibility. Students who undergo data science training learn basic skills in areas such as algorithms, forecasting, data analytics, privacy and collection. According to the University of Chicago’s most recent State of the Field, just over 50% of states have initiated measures to introduce data science in K-12 classrooms.
States taking action are adding data science courses to their catalogs, piloting courses and adopting standards and curriculum frameworks for data science rollouts. Schools are integrating data science across the curriculum and incorporating units in mathematics, CTE and computer science. But rarer are standalone courses in the subject area, a curriculum innovation advocates such as ExcelinEd and the Center for Data Science are pushing for.
Although there are serious obstacles preventing a national rollout of data science classes, there are promising trends. States such as California have developed a lauded framework for data science curricular integration; professional associations such as the National Council of Teachers of Math have placed data science on their agenda; and companies such as Bootstrap: Data Science, YouCubed Explorations and CodeHS have become leading venues for curriculum design and professional development.
But there is more to do. As data science pushes for formal subject area status in K-12, experts express a need for course and pathway articulation, curriculum development, program evaluation standards and equity.