'In the increasingly data-swamped world of education, data literacy is no longer a desirable skill, it is essential. Databusting for Schools is part guide through the complexities, uses and limitations of data; and part challenge to those who too readily make assumptions and draw conclusions. This is an important book.'
James Pembroke, independent data analyst
Data rules schools and ignorance is far from bliss. From assessment results to questioning educational claims, there is a growing need to understand the numbers used in education. Education data blogger and teacher Richard Selfridge (aka Jack Marwood) unravels the complexities of dealing with educational data and explains statistics in an understandable, everyday way, relevant to your classroom and your school.
He will take you through all you need to know about data and statistics in education including:
* Where does education data come from?
* The what, why and how of numbers.
* Understanding different types of graphs and how to use them.
* How to play around with data to see the bigger picture.
* How to interpret data, does one thing really lead to another?
* Using data to inform school policy.
A must-read for all teachers, school leaders, data managers, school governors, and anyone in education who has ever looked at statistical data and broken out into a cold sweat.
Richard Selfridge is a primary school teacher and writer on education. He is author of the popular datablog Icing on the Cake and tweets under the sometime pseudonym @Jack_Marwood.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Databusting for Schools - an introduction to using and interpreting education data
Chapter 2: Gathering education data – Where does it come from?
Chapter 3: Understanding numerical data in education – the what, how and why of numbers
Chapter 4: Understanding variables – the what and how of information
Chapter 5: Descriptive statistics – Where are we now?
Chapter 6: Inferential statistics – What does the bigger picture look like?
Chapter 7: Correlational statistics – Does one thing really lead to another?
Chapter 8: Critically appraising statistics – Using what you have learnt
Chapter 9: Data-based school research and policy – using data to understand and change education
Chapter 10: The data debate – the ongoing discussion about numbers in education
