Statistics in the high school mathematics curriculum: Is the curriculum preparing students to be quantitatively literate?

In 1989, the National Council for Teachers in Mathematics (NCTM) published standards for teaching mathematics in the K--12 curriculum. The standards intended to provide a basis for curriculum development and to aid in the development of textbooks and tests. Additional NCTM publications aimed to develop teacher training programs an to aid professional development activities. The American Statistical Association (ASA) and the NCTM joint committee on statistics education worked to develop draft standards for teaching probability and statistics in the K--12 mathematics curriculum. The committee wanted particular emphasis on probability and statistics topics in the mathematics curriculum, not just isolated topics haphazardly integrated into existing mathematics courses, such as algebra, geometry, and calculus. Today, probability and statistics have been integrated into high school curriculum and separate courses have been created as well. The ASA's Quantitative Literacy Project and recent NCTM's publications have helped teachers incorporate probability and statistics into their lessons. Recent annual NCTM meetings have devoted entire sessions to teaching probability and statistics. In May of 1997, the first Advanced Placement examination in statistics was offered. Even though several reform efforts have made progress, educators and textbook writers still need help in presenting statistics in a manner recommended by the NCTM. This dissertation attempts to answer the key question: What progress has been made in incorporating probability and statistics in the high school curriculum?