In a Freakonomics Radio episode called “America’s Math Curriculum Doesn’t Add Up” (Ep. 391), Steve Levitt investigated whether traditional math instruction is really preparing students for the work of the digital era. What he found was a curriculum that is not teaching data literacy. If you want to be a part of Levitt’s project to change the K-12 math curriculum to emphasize data analysis and statistics, you can find all the relevant resources below.
This project is funded by Schmidt Futures and the University of Chicago Center for Radical Innovation for Social Change (RISC).
Parents/Students
- Want change? Contact your state board of education to advocate for teaching data science in K-12. Use our template to guide the conversation.
- Want to start playing with data right now? The Concord Consortium provides free open-source data-science activities for high-school and undergraduate college students. If you have questions or want to learn more about Concord’s mission, contact their president, Chad Dorsey.
Educators
- Want to implement a high-school data-science class? Learn more about Introduction to Data Science and contact implementation specialist Suyen Machado.
- Want to incorporate data-science modules into your existing classes? Learn more about Bootstrap and contact co-founder Emmanuel Schanzer.
Universities
- Want to bridge the data-science gap between K-12 and higher education? Contact the University of Chicago Center for RISC at ideas@centerforrisc.org.
Join the Movement
- Sign the Center for RISC’s petition to send a message to state boards of education that yesterday’s math isn’t good enough for today.
- Are you incorporating data skills into your classroom already? Are you working on an initiative to bring data science to K-12? Let us know!