Statistics in K–12: Educators, Students, and Us
Challenges and resources for K–12 educators and students
Not much more than 10 years ago, statistics was taught in a course of its own in many high schools. Introduction to probability appeared in pre-calculus, but overall, the idea that statistical thinking could be integrated into multiple courses, other disciplines, or earlier in the education timeline was novel. Many readers may have had similar experiences—perhaps a science lab included instructions to compare groups or fit a line to the data—but all that was required was an algebraic comparison or an “eyeballed” fit. Perhaps an inquisitive student researched a t-test or simple linear regression, but that was far beyond what was expected.
Today, statistics and statistical thinking are being presented as early as elementary school, where, among other tasks, students are asked to interpret bar charts. With the growing demand for a data-literate society, this is a welcome change. Teaching statistical literacy early in life helps with the development of statistical thinking, similarly to the theory of teaching foreign languages at an early age. Statistical thinking by everyone, not just those who will be educated or employed as statisticians, helps individuals, as well as society as a whole, make better—or at least numerically literate—decisions. This is an opportune time for the statistical profession to introduce K–12 students to the field and the diverse career opportunities it presents.
The impetus for these changes comes from a variety of sources. The Common Core State Standards for Mathematical Practice (CCSSM), launched in 2009 and adopted by 43 states to date, affects what is taught in many K–12 schools. Much of the CCSSM are based on 2007 work by the American Statistical Association (ASA) in its Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) K–12 Report, which had a goal of building statistical literacy. While the rationale for including statistical thinking in mathematics education has been evolving and spreading over the past 20 years, there is a sense that the CCSSM strengthens the commitment in this area (see also Zalman Usiskin’s article in CHANCE 28.3).
With society becoming more data-centric, and statistics being one of the fastest growing STEM fields, students will have more options for employment with this valuable skill set. The statistics profession is poised to take a key role in many new areas of employment and research. If statisticians and the ASA can harness the energy of K–12 students, we will help to ensure the future of our profession.
To provide resources to students, it is instructive to understand why they elect to take statistics in high school. Many report enrolling in the course after taking the required math courses because they see the statistics course as something that can be more useful to them in the future. That is, while they know they will use basic math skills, statistics is a course in which they would learn how to better understand data or have a skill set that would be useful in the future. Some students even admit to taking statistics because they thought it would be easier than other mathematics electives.
Then, there are students who are motivated to take statistics after non-mathematics courses. For instance, after taking an economics or marketing course, some high-school students realize statistics could help them better understand the models and applications in those fields; several believe statistics would be a good course to take to better understand basic business courses. Students who take a statistics class following a physics, biology, and chemistry course astutely realize that statistics can justify conclusions when running experiments. Some are motivated by science teachers who have a little knowledge in statistics, while others are similar to those mentioned previously who realize that there might be more rigorous methods than “eyeballing” results for seeing whether there are differences or trends.
To provide adequate support and opportunities for educators and students, it is vital to address the challenges that exist and resources that are currently available. This article highlights resources that will help to address these issues comprehensively.
Current Challenges
Teacher training and faculty development is a major challenge. While statistics courses often are taught by those with mathematics degrees, there is large variation in the level of statistical education and experiences of these educators. When statistics was a course of its own, this was less of a concern, but introducing statistics in other courses requires all teachers to have some degree of statistical literacy.
Networking is also a challenge. Anyone who has taught an introductory-level course knows it takes time to develop and maintain quality materials. In larger schools, there may be a small group of statistical educators who can share and develop resources; in many smaller schools, educators often find themselves alone to find a text and develop instructional materials.
Providing advice and counsel to students is another challenge. While many high-school students may not think about long-term career decisions, there has not been adequate outreach by the statistics profession directly to students who do. Career counselors may not be equipped to provide career information about becoming a statistician. Recalling career days of 20 years past, accounting and actuarial studies were presented as the primary quantitative fields of choice. Granted, the development of computers and the Internet has expanded the set of quantitative fields, but the fact remains that statisticians have had relatively modest outreach to this student group.
Statistics students understand that statistics and data analysis are pervasive and that statistics can be used in many fields. Some students already are aware of many analysis or data-centric blogs, such as FiveThirtyEight.com, while many have read books like Naked Statistics or How to Lie with Statistics. While many high-school students are aware of how statistics can be used, there is little recognition about what statisticians do and what statistical research looks like.
Another challenge is that many very bright high-school students are encouraged to take multiple Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Such demanding classes, on top of extracurricular activities and the standard high-school curriculum, can make a course like statistics difficult, especially without prior exposure and solid instruction. It has been argued that statistics instruction must teach students to reason about the world, which depends on accumulating knowledge about the real world. Consider this idea within the cognitive domain of Bloom’s taxonomy: These students have time to memorize facts and, at most, comprehend them, but they may not have time or maturity to synthesize or evaluate them. To further the earlier analogy regarding learning of a foreign language: They have memorized the words, but have not begun to “think” in the language.
Resources and Opportunity for Growth
Many resources for educators, counselors, and students address these challenges. The ASA has a host of resources, as do the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), and Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education (CAUSE); CAUSE also co-sponsors the United States Conference on Teaching Statistics (USCOTS) and the Electronic Conference on Teaching Statistics (eCOTS), together with the National Institute of Statistical Sciences (NISS). Individuals have joined together to help meet these challenges as well, under federally funded grants such as Project-SET: Statistics Education for Teachers.
Resources Available to Educators
K–12 teachers can join the ASA for a free one-year trial that provides webinars and workshops, books, newsletters, lesson plans, and other resources.
There are two workshops typically offered in conjunction with the Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM). The Meeting Within a Meeting (MWM) is a workshop for math and science teachers that has been held since 2007, and 347 teachers have thus far participated. Its objectives are to support teaching statistics within the CCSSM and next-generation science standards through conceptual understanding, active learning, real-world data applications, and appropriate use of technology. The Beyond AP Statistics (BAPS) workshop consists of enrichment material just beyond the basic AP syllabus.
K–12 and college-level administrators and educators involved in training current and prospective statistics teachers will find useful guidance in the Statistical Education of Teachers (SET) Report (see “The Statistical Education of Teachers: Preparing Teachers to Teach Statistics” in CHANCE 28.3), which provides motivation, recommendations on what statistical educators should know, a description of CCSSM, and recommendations for the statistical preparation of educators.
Among the websites with resources for teachers, the Statistics Education Web (STEW) is an online repository of peer-reviewed lesson plans and NCTM provides support to teachers as they work to meet the challenges of CCSSM.
For counselors, advisors, teachers, parents, and especially students who are considering learning more about the field of statistics, the ASA has launched a public awareness campaign: This is Statistics. Its website conveys four key messages to students: that they can satisfy their curiosity, have fun, make an impact, and have a financially rewarding career as a statistician. Among its resources are short video profiles of up-and-coming members of our profession that highlight how they became statisticians and what they do as statisticians. There are news articles focused on current events such as the popularity of statistics degrees, demand for statisticians by employers, and importance of statistical education in all fields. This is a dynamic website where students (and parents, teachers, and counselors) can learn about the statistical profession without being overwhelmed with too much information.
For Students Thinking of Pursuing Careersas Statisticians
ASA’s web resource “How Do I Become a Statistician?” features helpful hints on what coursework is necessary in high school and in college, as well as what level of education is needed for certain careers. Industries that employ statisticians are listed, as well as salary information and employment prospects.
For students already involved in a statistics course, the ASA/NCTM Joint Committee has sponsored annual poster competitions for K–12 students since 1990, and annual project competitions for students in grades 7–12 since 1987. Each year, more than 3,000 students participate in regional- through national-level poster submissions. Several ASA chapters are involved in independent local and regional science fairs, at which they provide awards for “Best Statistics.” The largest of these is the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), in which judging of projects is supported by three ASA chapters.
Remarks
The ASA and many individuals in our profession are working to support educators and encourage students to consider statistics as a career and provide resources to address the challenges that many educators face in teaching statistics courses. Various reference resources are available for students to learn about diverse career opportunities in statistical science. What is lacking, in many cases, is an ongoing connection between K–12 educators and students and the statisticians, many of whom may not know these resources exist.
Many statisticians are involved in K–12 outreach. The profession has made great inroads on promoting the use of statistics. Through some of the newly developed tools, such as the This is Statistics campaign, as well as tools that the ASA is developing, such as the This is Statistics Promotion Toolkit, statisticians will be able to reach a broader audience and promote our profession directly to more students; with SET, we can help prepare current and future teachers teach statistics classes.
As the ASA has shown in, among other places, a webcast about career planning, many renowned members of our profession admit to some serendipitous event that led them to statistics as a profession. Our profession is replete with individuals who were planning to be computer scientists, doctors, engineers, musicians, dancers … all of whom experienced an event that led them to become statisticians. The ASA webcast begins with four similarly diverse stories: a poster on National Institutes of Health Biometry, a seminar leading to a summer internship, a statistics department that responded faster than a computer science department or economics department, and a professorship with joint applied work that turned out to be more interesting. While it is interesting to hear about these life-focusing events, the fact is that the statistical science must cast a wide net to proactively fill the growing needs of tomorrow’s society for analytical professionals from current and future high-school students.
This article is not a plea for all statisticians to call their local elementary and high schools or school boards. It is, however, a call for everyone in the profession to keep in mind the statistics careers and teacher educational resources described in this article and to help spread the word about them when an opportunity arises. It might even be surprising to notice how often these opportunities appear. Imagine what the profession would look like in 10 years if even a fraction of the readers of this article get involved in K–12 education outreach in one way or another.
Further Reading
American Statistical Association (ASA) Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) K–12 Report.
Common Core State Standards Initiative. 2010. Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Washington, DC: National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers.
De Veaux, R.D., and P.F. Velleman. 2008. Math is music; statistics is literature (or, why are there no six-year-old novelists?). Amstat News. 375:54–58.
Franklin, C.A., A.F. Bargagliotti, C.A. Case, G.D. Kader, R.L. Scheaffer, and D.A. Spangler. 2015.
The statistical education of teachers (SET). Alexandria, VA: American Statistical Association.
Franklin, C.A. and J. Garfield, 2006. The GAISE project: Developing statistics education guidelines for grades pre-K–12 and college courses. Thinking and reasoning with data and chance. 345–376.
About the Author
Mary J. Kwasny is an associate professor in preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. Her first high-school career day presentation was a mere two years into her career as a biostatistician, and she has enjoyed sharing her experiences with high-school students for many years. As a mother of one and aunt to four, she is thrilled with the emphasis on statistics in the K–12 curriculum.
