Our Mission
80/20 Data Literacy Learning Consortium is a 503(c) non-profit whose mission is to empower through teaching data literacy in the K-12 community.

To teach, foster, and promote data literacy to K-12 students, teachers, parents, and the communities they serve – especially those that are disadvantaged - through mentoring, training, and services for personal, societal, and economic empowerment of all.

Why a non-profit instead of for-profit?
Improving and empowering lives should not have a profit-motive. We want to make Data Literacy accessible to everyone.

What does 80/20 mean?
80/20 is the short-hand for the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule. The basic premise is 80% of our output is created from 20% of our work.

What is Data Literacy?
We believe Data Literacy has 5 real-world, non-academic components:

1. Understanding the importance and implications of data in our society, democracy, schools, and economy.
2. Confidence to use basic data to make decisions.
3. Ability to craft a basic data story from data.
4. Interpret data visualizations (graphs/charts) at a basic level.
5. Understand the privacy, ethical, and limiting factors of data.

What is the difference between Data Literacy and Data Science?
Data Literacy is a foundation to its more advanced Data Science sibling. It is what basic math - addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division - is to algebra, geometry, statistics, and/or calculus. Alternatively, it is what spelling and basic grammar are to writing essays and fiction.

While Data Science is an exciting and dynamic field, it is pretty advanced for the average person. Not everyone has to become a writer or mathematician, but having basic literacy in both these areas is vital to personal success, students' success, and the overall world.

Why is Data Literacy important?
Data Literacy is important for many reasons:
1. Data is the new currency. Those that can collect, analyze, learn, and make predictions from data are the power brokers and money makers.
2. Data is feeding algorithms. Algorithms, in many cases, are running our lives and making decisions for us. Understanding the impacts on our lives, thinking, and decisions is vital.
3. Harnessing the power of data is driving machine learning and Artificial Intelligence. Both of these are altering the workforce and having economical implications.
4. Many of us lack basic confidence in our Data Literacy skills.
5. Data Literacy is not a a focus in our Kindergarten through College education.

How can Data Literacy directly impact me?
1. Make better decisions for professionally for you, your students, and school.
2. Make better decisions in your life.
3. Confidence in determining fact vs. fiction.
4. Increased job opportunities.