By Leticia Perez, Cynthia McIntyre, and Frieda Reichsman
As data become increasingly central to science, mathematics, and everyday decision-making, teachers need accessible ways to integrate authentic datasets into classroom instruction. Although vast public data repositories exist, locating, cleaning, and contextualizing real-world data remains a significant barrier for many educators. This article introduces Data Biographies, a free collection of curated datasets and support materials designed to help middle and high school teachers engage students in meaningful data exploration. Developed by WestEd in collaboration with the Concord Consortium, data biographies provide contextual information about datasets, guiding questions for investigation, and tools for instructional planning, all embedded within the Common Online Data Analysis Platform (CODAP). Drawing on professional learning and needs-assessment work with secondary STEM teachers across multiple states, the article describes the structure of data biographies and illustrates their use through two examples—Roller Coasters and Extreme Heat. These examples demonstrate how teachers can support students in exploring measures of center, spread, and variability using real-world, relevant data. Data biographies offer a flexible entry point for integrating statistics and data science concepts into existing curricula.
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