Pre-teaching or a fresh choice each day: Teacher data literacy in action

Data literacy enables teachers to use information collected about students and their learning to take data-informed instructional action.  This article outlines two approaches developed by teachers to provide teaching targeted to the immediate needs of specific students that moved beyond “gap-filling”. The pre-teaching and “fresh choice” approaches led to increased student confidence and mathematics understanding. The approaches supported the development of student agency and provided teachers with opportunities to affirm and assign competence to learners. Students benefitted by being more willing and able to contribute to classroom learning of their peers. Teachers valued positive feedback from students and family members.