Data Literacy for International School Educators
From Data Anxiety to Data Fluency
With Chris Smith
November 29-30, 2025
Nanjing International School
Nanjing, China
About the Workshop
In today's data-driven educational landscape, data literacy is no longer optional—it's essential. This two-day workshop empowers international school educators to effectively leverage data to inform their teaching practices and build student success. Participants will develop a comprehensive understanding of data literacy, analysis techniques, and data-informed decision-making, culminating in the ability to lead data conversations and foster a data-informed culture within their schools.
Our Speaker
Chris is an academic data specialist for school leaders and educators. He helps them make sense of their data by turning it into information that informs effective decision-making.
Chris has worked with clients such as Saigon South International School, Frankfurt International School, ACS International Schools UK, Singapore American School, Yongsan International School Seoul, Dallas Independent Schools and various school districts in the United States. He has coached and trained over 300 educators through his online synchronous and self-paced courses. Chris leads teams through data literacy, data visualization, and dashboard design workshops for organizations such as AppsEdu, Data in Schools, and 21st Century Learning International using Google Workspace tools such as Google Sheets and Looker Studio.
Chris has 25 years of experience in education. Starting off as an elementary classroom teacher for 17 years, he moved into an educational technology coaching role and eventually found himself helping others be more efficient with their work around data analysis and data literacy. Chris holds a master’s in educational leadership from California State University, data science certification from Harvard Business School, and data visualization certification from Cornell University.
When not jamming out on spreadsheet formulas and chart elements, Chris can be found ascending punchy climbs and bombing down drops in the jungle on his mountain bike.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Define data literacy and articulate its importance in education.
- Identify and utilize various data types and sources relevant to international schools.
- Analyze school-specific data to identify trends, strengths, and areas for growth.
- Lead collaborative conversations about data to inform instructional improvements.
- Foster a collaborative and data-informed environment in their school.
- Gain practical skills for collecting, organizing, and visualizing educational data.
- Apply inquiry-based practices to gain meaningful insights.
- Translate data into effective instructional strategies and learning goals.
- Develop skills to lead and support colleagues in their data journeys.
2-Day Agenda
Day 1
8:00-9:30am
Building a foundation, finding our ‘Why’, and then reframing the data
Key Activity: Assessing our school’s current data culture.
Break
9:45am-12:00pm
Data walkthrough and inquiry prompts
Key Activity: Practice exploring simple, anonymized data sets through different data protocols.
Lunch
1:00-2:30pm
Are your data helping or getting in the way?
Key Activity: Discussions around current data sources, their strengths, and weaknesses.
Break
2:45-4:00pm
Hands-on Analysis
Key Activity: Apply inquiry prompts and protocols to data sets to move from observations to meaningful insights.
Day 2
8:00-9:30am
BYOD - Bring Your Own Data
Key Activity: Examine your school’s current data and align it with your "Why" question.
Break
9:45am - 12:00pm
Collaborative data analysis
Key Activity: Use structured inquiry protocols to analyze data sets in small teams, emphasizing "valuing small wins."
Lunch
1:00-2:00pm
Data coaching role-play
Key Activity: Roleplay a coaching scenario to practice guiding effective data conversations.
Break
2:45-4:00pm
Case Study and Personal Action Plan
Key Activity: Develop strategies for navigating data conversations and create a data literacy action plan.