CBL Curriculum Project: High School

Data For Social Change

Ever wonder how the government or big companies make decisions? Do you know how the data from your smartphone is used?  Data is all around us. It is used in everything from determining how effective a new medication is to tracking trends in crime. Because data is based in numbers, people tend to think it is neutral and unbiased. However, data depends tremendously on how it is analyzed and who does this analyzing. Data has been used against people of color, in examples like unfair banking policies, high interest bank loans and disproportionate policing of certain neighborhoods.  

Data is a powerful tool to make change. It provides support for our arguments and allows us to measure the change we hope to see. In a time when “alternative facts” are argued for, citizens must be able to ask how decisions are made and determine if data is reliable or biased. 

In this project, we learn how data is used to create compelling arguments and critically examine our world. Students identify or gather data around an important issue, analyze it, and use it to create an argument to make a call for change.

Students develop skills to reason quantitatively and communicate effectively to contribute to positive social change.

Designed for Circulos High School, Santa Ana, CA. 2019