A new data literacy course, funded by SJI, is in development to help build future-ready courts and meet the growing demand for court data expertise. Courts will soon have a new tool to support staff who use and communicate with data to generate insights and optimize performance. The data literacy course will help build future-ready courts and meet the growing demand for court data expertise.
The curriculum, which will be tested and refined over the next few months, covers the data lifecycle, court statistics, data visualization, ethics, and governance. A national online launch is anticipated in 2026.
“Data literacy is a core skill for today’s court professional,” said Nicole Waters, NCSC’s director of data, analytics, and forecasting. “Working with data is not just a technical skill, but a fundamental skill that helps court personnel meaningfully contribute to decision-making and improve data quality throughout all court processes.”
The course is designed for three key audiences:
- Court administrators who need to request, read, and interpret data to gain actionable insights from reports.
- New hires in research and data offices who must quickly understand the unique challenges of state court data.
- Court staff seeking to strengthen their skills in processing and utilizing data for daily operations.
The inspiration for the course came after NCSC worked with the Orange County (California) Superior Court on a curriculum to help staff with limited data experience assist the court with an increased volume of data requests. Over time, NCSC principal court research associate and project lead Diane Robinson said the team identified similar needs across the country and began developing a national curriculum for online delivery.
Resources available now
In the meantime, NCSC continues to provide data resources, including the expert-led “Data Dives” webinar series, the semi-annual in-person Data Specialists and IT Summit, and quarterly virtual meetings for data specialists, where court professionals discuss key data challenges and innovations. Courts can access current resources to improve their court data at ncsc.org/data.