Data science and AI skills have long-term benefits for students, but schools do not offer enough opportunities to learn it, according to a new survey of parents and educators cited in an Education Week article.
Data literacy is critical because it teaches students to question, evaluate, interpret, and communicate information effectively, says Zarek Drozda, the executive director of Data Science for Everyone, one of the organizations that conducted the survey.
Data literacy is more important than ever as AI use in the business world booms, he says. “When it comes to AI tools, [students] have to know how to question where underlying data comes from, what might be wrong with it, and whether it’s applied correctly to the problem they’re wrestling with,” Drozda says. “That’s how we enact critical thinking in a world of AI capabilities and digital technology.”
The 2026 survey included 1,333 parents and educators in Colorado, Louisiana, and Tennessee and found 88% believing all students should be data literate before graduating high school; 76% said AI has made learning data literacy even more important; and 58% said schools should provide opportunities to develop this skill.
But data literacy isn’t mandated nationwide. As of 2025, six states had adopted a data literacy learning standard; 11 included it in their state course catalogs; and 12 offer a pilot course or teacher professional development for it.
“Students and our education community are starting to use data science skills and data sets to really critically think about how AI should be used for the best teaching and learning,” says Amber Zavicar, a K-12 math specialist for the Genesee Intermediate School District in Flint, Mich.
Most educators and parents (84%) believe data literacy should be integrated across multiple subjects, not just math or computer science. That’s easier said than done.
“Math education conversations happen in a different silo than the future of learning AI conversations, and those need to be connected,” says Drozda. “We have to bring [core academics] to life in this new [AI-driven] era and double down on some of the core academic skills that matter most in synthesis with technology.”
Data science is a modern way of thinking about mathematics and how it can apply to everyday life, says Zavicar. The survey found that 84% of educators and parents believe data skills are important for informed civic participation.
And those skills can be used to explain more than what’s in the mathematical formula. It can connect math with what’s going on in the world.
“Flint has historically had unhealthy water systems for 20 years—we can actually use mathematics [and data science] to start to dig into [why],” Zavicar says.
Zavicar has seen students use data literacy to develop arguments against the integration of AI into schools. Students “are really digging into data sets that they’re interested in, particularly around things like the environment, cognitive thinking, and how the use of AI impacts the brain,” she says.
Education Week
