Announcements: Spring 2021

Submit Lesson Plans, Articles, and Announcements to Statistics Teacher

Please consider submitting some of your K–12 statistics lesson plans for publication or writing and sharing an article. We also accept announcement submissions. For more information, see the ST submission guidelines or contact the ST editors.

Upcoming Deadlines

Grants, Awards, and Scholarships from the Mathematics Education Trust
Deadline is May 1, 2021
Did you know NCTM members have access to more than $150,000 in grants, scholarships, and other awards through the Mathematics Education Trust (MET)? The newest opportunity, Opening Gates for Prospective Teachers Grant, is also available to fund NCTM student memberships for prospective teachers of mathematics at all levels, PK–12.

Check out the full range of grants opportunities and apply today for the summer cycle of MET Grants.

NCTM Events
NCTM is looking forward to resuming in-person conferences beginning September 2021. We are committed to safely bringing our mathematics community back together for the hands-on learning, hallway conversations, and in-person networking experiences that fuel our imaginations and inspire our teaching and learning. Check out the full calendar of events.

Resources and Opportunities

GAISE II Available
The Pre-K–12 Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education II (GAISE II): A Framework for Statistics and Data Science Education is now available for free download. It can also be purchased via Amazon for $15.

April Is Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month
Organize and host activities in April for Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month! Past activities have included workshops, competitions, festivals, lectures, symposia, department open houses, math art exhibits, and math poetry readings. Please share your activities on social media and tag @AmstatNews and #MathStatMonth. The goal is to increase public understanding of and appreciation for statistics and mathematics.

ASA Data Visualization Poster Competition
The ASA Data Visualization Poster Competition is for grade K–12 students to create a display containing two or more related graphics that summarize a set of data, look at the data from different points of view, and answer specific questions about the data. The deadline is April 1 and submissions are now digital with a new judging rubric.

Virtual Science Fair
The Virtual Science Fair allows grade K–12 students to investigate an interesting topic and submit a short video highlighting their process and results. The deadline is April 30.

ASA Statistics Project Competition
The ASA Statistics Project Competition (written report) is for grade 7–12 students to answer a research question using statistical techniques and present the work in a written report. The deadline is June 1.

Meeting Within a Meeting (MWM) Statistics Workshop for Middle- and High-School Mathematics and Science Teachers
Online, Summer 2021
This workshop is meant to strengthen K–12 mathematics and science teachers’ understanding of statistics and provide them with hands-on activities aligned with standards they can use in their own classrooms. Get details as they become available.

Beyond AP Statistics (BAPS) Workshop
Online, Summer 2021
The BAPS workshop is offered for experienced AP Statistics teachers and consists of enrichment material just beyond the basic AP syllabus. Get details as they become available.

Build Quantitative Literacy with Graphs
What’s Going On in This Graph? is a free weekly online feature of the ASA and New York Times Learning Network. Over the past four years, more than 100 New York Times graphs of different types and contexts have been published. Teachers worldwide use this feature as a springboard for middle- and high-school through college students to think critically about graphs and learn about the world around them.

On Wednesdays from September to May, a new graph is released. Students respond to four questions: What do you notice? What do you wonder? How does this affect you and your community? What’s going on in this graph? Teachers moderate their responses online from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. ET. By Friday, the original article, additional questions, and “stat nuggets”—definitions of statistical terms seen in the graphs and explanations for how they are used—are revealed.

No statistics background is necessary for either teachers or students. Support is offered within the feature.

For more information, see this recent article.

In addition, several New York Times Learning Network Lessons of the Day based on New York Times articles and written by What’s Going On in This Graph? moderators have been published, including the following about COVID-19:

• ‘Air Travel Surges 123%’: A Lesson About Misleading Statistics
• Lesson of the Day: Dangerous Denominators
• What Does 95% Effective Mean? Teaching the Math of Vaccine Efficacy

K–12 Statistics Teacher Meetups
The American Statistical Association offers free K–12 teacher meetups (via Zoom) to share resources and discuss K–12 statistics topics. Meetup topics have included the AP Statistics exam and statistics reading, assessment, applets, software resources, and lesson plans.

View recordings or indicate interest in participating in future meetups and suggest topics or presenters.

New Episodes of Stats + Stories Podcast Available
The ASA has partnered with the Stats + Stories group at Miami University, a collaboration between statisticians and journalists producing podcasts that give the statistics behind the stories and the stories behind the statistics. To listen, visit the Stats + Stories website or iTunes.

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