Data-literate citizenry: how US state standards address data and data visualizations in social studies

Abstract

Purpose Data literacy – the ability to read, analyze, interpret, evaluate and argue with data and data visualizations – is an essential competency in social studies. This study aims to examine the degree to which US state standards require teachers to teach data literacy in social studies, addressing the questions: to what extent are US social studies teachers required to teach data literacy? If they are required to teach it, are they provided with guidance about competencies to address at each school or grade level and with respect to particular content? Design/methodology/approach The study used content analysis, using a variety of priori and emergent codes, to review social studies standards documents from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Findings Findings indicate that although state standards suggest that data visualizations should play a role in social studies instruction, they provide poor guidance for a coherent, progressive and critical approach across grade levels. Originality/value This paper currently knows little about if and how teachers address data literacy in social studies education. This study provides a snapshot of guidance teachers across states are given for teaching data literacy, and by extension, the quality of data literacy instruction recommended for students across the USA.

The information won't just sink in: Helping teachers provide technology‐assisted data literacy instruction in social studies

“…It has six "modules" organized around driving questions and with one or more subsections of content or resources (see Table 1 for module descriptions). The content is based on several studies (eg, Shreiner, 2018aShreiner, , 2019Shreiner, , 2020 related to data literacy in social studies, including the role that data visualizations play in curricular materials across the United States. Resources included are primary source data visualizations, links to websites with data visualizations, and links to several free, online data visualization tools (eg, Google Earth, Timeline JS, ArcGIS Storymaps) that can be used for social studies-specific projects.…”

“…Social studies standards across the United States require students to interpret, analyse, use and create maps, graphs or charts, typically as early as kindergarten or first grade. (Shreiner, 2020). Data visualizations are also embedded in the National Council for the Social Studies' (2013) College, Career and Civic Life (C3) Framework , a document that has influenced revision of state social studies standards throughout the United States.…”

“…Data visualizations such as timelines, maps and graphs are ubiquitous in social studies. They fill the pages of textbooks, appear prominently in online resources, and are frequently included on social studies standardized tests (National Assessment Governing Board, 2018a, 2018b, 2018c; Shreiner, 2020). Reading these data visualizations can be challenging for students, particularly if they lack understanding of context or content related to the data, or if a data visualization contains information not directly related to a question or topic a student is trying to address (Friel et al, 2001; Maltese et al, 2015; Shah & Hoeffner, 2002; Strobel et al, 2018).…”

A lesson in missed opportunities: examining the use of data visualizations in online history lessons

“…A recent national survey indicates that teachers in 86% of public schools use online instructional resources outside of their textbooks or other school-provided resources to a moderate or large extent (Gray and Lewis, 2021) In this study, we set out to answer these questions, reviewing social studies lesson plans and activities from eight websites that we often hear about teachers using and that colleagues cite as high quality: C3 Teachers, EDSITEment, Facing History and Ourselves, Learning for Justice, Library of Congress, National Archives, Stanford History Education Group and World History for Us All. We concentrated on websites and lessons most closely associated with the discipline of history because history is usually the social studies discipline students study the most, and while the role of data visualizations is not as obvious as in geography, their part in history is just as central (Gibbs, 2016;Shreiner, 2018Shreiner, , 2020. Our findings indicate that while about a third of online lesson plans contain data visualizations, guidance on teaching data literacy is mixed, underscoring the need for teachers to consider supplementing and modifying lesson plans that they find online.…”

“…State standards documents across the United States already require that students work with data visualizations, usually as early as kindergarten (Shreiner, 2020). Data visualizations are also embedded in the National Council for the Social Studies' (2013) College, Career and Civic Life (C3) Framework, which recommends that students create chronological sequences and construct and use maps, graphs and other visual representations beginning in the early elementary grades and throughout high school.…”