Statistical literacy: a professional skill for today's teachers

In today’s education environment, decision making based on data-driven evidence has become part of expected professional practice. In schools, student assessment data such as NAPLAN results, whole school reports, and Year 12 examination reports have the potential to inform changes in this practice. If education personnel such as teachers and principals can interpret the data to identify across-school and within-class areas of strength and concern, and even diagnose the needs of individual students, then it becomes possible to adapt teaching approaches and emphases in a highly targeted way, with the potential for significant positive outcomes.