Chart workshop · Handout
PAPER MOTH ANALYTICSFive rules for charts a board will trust
Each rule shows the same survey twice: once the usual way, once fixed. Examples come from the Hearthside District sample.
Say the finding first.
A title that names the question makes the reader do the work.
Q2. My school leadership supports me.
Support tracks who leaves.
Sort by the story, not the alphabet.
A–Z order looks tidy and hides who is high and who is low.
Give every number a neighbor.
A number alone can't be judged as good or bad. Show what to compare it to.
Count people before percentages.
Rates come from headcounts. Compare shares by people, not by number of schools.
20% of schools → 41% of leavers
These 4 schools are big, so this overstates it.29% of teachers → 41% of leavers
56 of 137 people who left. Fair and still striking.End with the decision the data supports.
The next step should follow from the finding, not from the loudest comment.
Compensation study to be presented in fall.
Fund a support plan for the 4 schools first.
Try it on your next report
Pick one chart. Rewrite its title as a finding, sort it by value, and add one comparison. That takes about 10 minutes.
Hearthside District is an invented sample. Patterns modeled on RAND State of the American Teacher (2025), the NC Teacher Working Conditions Survey (2024), and the Learning Policy Institute.