State-wide and national testing in areas such as literacy and numeracy produces reports containing graphs and tables illustrating school and individual performance. These are intended to inform teachers, principals, and education organisations about student and school outcomes, to guide change and improvement. Given the complexity of the information, it is of interest to determine the critical statistical skills required to make sense of such data. This paper examines the statistical literacy necessary to interpret the graphical presentations of school assessment data for the Australian NAPLAN testing process. A framework for professional statistical literacy that acknowledges the importance of context is used to identify different levels of data interpretation. The implications for helping users make better use of such data and for teacher education more broadly are discussed.
Funding
Australian Research Council
Dept of Education and Early Childhood Development
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority
History
Publication title
Mathematics Teacher Education and Development
Volume
15
Pagination
5-26
ISSN
1442-3901
Department/School
Faculty of Education
Publisher
Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia