As courts increasingly rely on data to improve services and guide decision-making, the need for a data-literate workforce has never been greater. With support from the State Justice Institute, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) developed Data Literacy for Courts, a first-of-its-kind curriculum designed specifically for court professionals. The course equips the court workforce with practical skills in data quality, statistics, visualization, governance, ethics, and the data life cycle.
Piloted in Pennsylvania and Georgia, the curriculum was refined through collaboration with courts to ensure real-world relevance and impact. This evidence-based approach produced a scalable resource that is now offered nationally through NCSC’s education programs.
The project advances SJI priorities by promoting data-driven decision-making, supporting collaboration between court leaders and data professionals, and creating a sustainable workforce development model. NCSC highlighted the curriculum during its Data Dives webinar, Future-Ready Courts: Building a Data-Literate Workforce, where data literacy was presented as a response to a key vulnerability identified in the Future Ready Courts framework: a workforce that lacks the skills to effectively use data for decision-making. The webinar featured court practitioners, instructional resources, and a companion video illustrating how data literacy can strengthen transparency, innovation, and public trust.
“I can’t overstate the role of data in our world and the importance of having the skills to understand it.”
–Kelly McClain, Data Exchange Manager, Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System
The curriculum continues to grow in reach and impact. Following a live virtual national offering in August 2026, NCSC is adapting the curriculum to include an expanded data visualization program for Nevada courts.
July 1, 2023
The National Judicial Network: A Lifeline Helping Judges Better Serve Human Trafficking Victims and Immigrant Victims of Crime and Abuse The National Judicial Network (NJN): Forum on Human Trafficking and Immigration in State Courts offers judges an opportunity for peer-to-peer learning and information sharing. Judges from all over the country who are interested in the …
June 1, 2023
The Good Judge-ment Podcast is an educational, web-based podcast for judges, lawyers, students and nerds of all kinds. The podcast started in 2016 as a supplement to ongoing educational programming for Georgia Superior Court judges. From that beginning, it has grown to a bi-weekly program with hundreds of subscribers and over 125 episodes. The hosts, …
May 1, 2023
With the certification of 64 resource judges and four court resource attorneys’ mid-summer 2022, the National Courts and Sciences Institute (NCSI) completed Phase 1 of a SJI-supported strategic initiative to discover ways to train judges and court personnel to cope with novel, changing, Covid Science in the Courtroom. Judges from 12 jurisdictions in coordinator-facilitated teams …
April 1, 2023
During the past two years, Neighborhood Preservation, Inc. worked with the City of Memphis and Shelby County to launch the local Emergency Rental Assistance program, a $90 million program with a strong eviction prevention and legal services component. The SJI grant supported the development of court data tools to identify ERA applicants facing upcoming court …
March 1, 2023
To improve guardianship case management, the National Center for State Courts is leading two SJI-funded projects to help guide courts through guardianship monitoring. Developing a Judicial Response Protocol to Address Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation in Guardianship Cases features an interactive tool designed to help judges respond to allegations of harm to individuals subject to guardianship. …
February 1, 2023
DV AWARE stands for Domestic Violence Analysis, Warning, Action, Recovery, and Engagement. Perpetrators of domestic violence can threaten the safety and well-being not only of their intimate partners and children, but also courts and communities. Beginning with a grant from SJI in 2021, the DV AWARE Project sought to support juvenile and family court systems …