K-12 Data Science Education: Standards, Funding and Algebra
At the 2024 AI Connect K-12 Data Science Conference, MIT AI Fellow Deborah Kariuki reviewed where data science education stands in U.S. schools. She covered state standards, a federal data literacy bill and the push to let data science count in place of algebra.
By The AI Enterprise Magazine Team3 min read
Key takeaways
- Few states have standards. Kariuki named five with data science in math frameworks: California, Virginia, Oregon, Washington and Alabama.
- Federal grants may follow. A data literacy bill would fund access to data literacy education across subjects, but she said it was not yet law.
- Algebra debate. Some states are moving to let data science count in place of algebra; Kariuki said the goal is to pair, not remove, math.
- Teachers need support. Professional development and crowdsourced lesson plans are still needed.
- Any subject can join. History, social studies and statistics teachers already use data to tell stories.
In a 2024 interactive session at the AI Connect K-12 Data Science Conference, Deborah Kariuki, an AI Fellow at MIT, gave educators an update on where data science education stands in U.S. schools: which states have written standards, what a federal data literacy bill could mean for teachers, and whether data science should stand in for algebra.
Kariuki, who used a live poster tool so attendees could post notes and questions, said the talk was aimed mainly at educators but open to anyone interested in how data science is entering classrooms.
Which states have data science standards?
Early work on data and statistics came from established frameworks, Kariuki said, naming the Next Generation Science Standards and the Common Core standards for high school statistics and probability. She also pointed educators to the K-12 computer science framework and a data science course framework as places to find guidance.
According to Kariuki, only five states had codified or recommended data science standards in their math frameworks: California, Virginia, Oregon, Washington and Alabama. She said many school programs with data science exist but are not codified, and that most sit in statistics or math. Standards differ from state to state, she added, and she asked attendees to share what they knew about their own.
What is the Data Science and Literacy Act?
Kariuki described a federal bill, which she called the data science and literacy act, that she said had advanced that month but had "not become law yet." As she summarized it, the bill would direct the Secretary of Education to make grants to increase access to data literacy education.
She noted the grants would not be limited to data science or math, so teachers of any subject who build data science into their courses might become eligible to apply. She advised educators to watch for when funding becomes available and said that, once the bill moves, the next question is how much money is actually set aside.
The text she showed cast data science and literacy as vital for U.S. residents amid global competition and growing reliance on data, with examples ranging from medical and financial data to sports statistics and news.
Should data science replace algebra?
Kariuki said some states are moving to let data science count in place of algebra, echoing earlier moves that let computer science count toward science or language requirements. She said she believed Texas lets computer science replace a language requirement, and that many students and schools do not know such options exist.
She asked attendees how they felt about data science replacing algebra. One participant said they loved algebra and worried about overlap. Kariuki responded that Bootstrap, a curriculum provider, offers data science material in collaboration with algebra, which she described as a more interactive way to teach it for students who find numbers intimidating.
"We don't want to pull out math," she said. "We just want to make data science work with math" so students stay in their classes.
What do teachers need to teach data science?
Kariuki pointed to shifts in teaching approaches, including an asset-based approach that builds on students' natural interest in sorting and classifying their world. Teachers, she said, will need support and professional development, and the field still needs crowdsourcing to produce better data literacy lesson plans.
She also noted that many statistics teachers have been leading data science work, and that history and social studies teachers can use data to tell meaningful stories. To close, she ran a poll asking attendees whether they teach data science and what the term means to them.
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Frequently asked questions
Which states have K-12 data science standards?
Kariuki said only five states had codified or recommended data science standards in math frameworks: California, Virginia, Oregon, Washington and Alabama.
What is the Data Science and Literacy Act?
She described a federal bill that would direct the Secretary of Education to make grants to increase access to data literacy education; she said it was not yet law.
Can data science replace algebra?
Some states are moving that way, Kariuki said, while curricula such as Bootstrap pair data science with algebra so students keep their math.
This article is based on remarks by Deborah Kariuki, AI Fellow, MIT at AI Connect K-12 Data Science Conference 2024 on July 25, 2024. More coverage: More AI Connect Events.
Filed under: People, Culture & Leadership, AI Strategy & ROI
