Approaching the end of the school year means focusing on graduation rates, dropout rates, and other data suggesting trends for students. Opportunities for considering statistics abound, but one must examine the way that these statistics are actually used by asking the right questions about the data.

For example, as teachers finish state testing regimens and head into final exams, it may be useful to see data related to average pay for teachers. Is it going up? The following figures from 1969–2014 suggest that it is:

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