Two to Represent University of Arkansas at Gates Foundation Literacy Conference

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Karee Dunn, left, and Denise Airola

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invited two University of Arkansas employees to attend a literacy conference May 3 and 4.

Karee Dunn, assistant professor of educational statistics and research methods in the College of Education and Health Professions, and Denise Airola, research specialist with the Arkansas Leadership Academy, were invited to the conference because of their work with data-driven reform efforts in Oregon. The Arkansas Leadership Academy is a statewide partnership also based in the College of Education and Health Professions.

"The goal of the conference is to define data literacy among educators," Dunn said. "Data-driven decision making has become an emphasis among educational policymakers. To date, however, there is no common agreement about what it means to be data literate. The construct is often confused with assessment literacy because many believe that assessment results are the only data of note."

People in the field must think more broadly about data to inform educational practice, Dunn said. The conference will bring together professional development providers in data literacy and formative assessment, researchers, funding organizations and other stakeholders with the objective of defining data literacy and identifying the requisite knowledge and skills. 

WestEd is the lead organization for this work, with Ellen Mandinach as the principal investigator. Education Northwest is the partner organization, led by the work of Edith Gummer. 

"The outcome of the conference will be a white paper on data literacy that will reach a diverse audience of policymakers and stakeholders," Dunn said.

Dunn and Airola worked with school leaders and teachers through the Oregon Data Project by helping to develop professional development programs, evaluating teacher adoption of data driven decision-making and the impact on student performance.