Abstract
The statistical preparation of in-service teachers, particularly middle school teachers, has been an
area of concern for several years. This paper discusses the creation and delivery of an
introductory statistics course as part of a master’s degree program for in-service mathematics
teachers. The initial course development took place before the advent of the Common Core State
Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) and the Mathematics Education of Teachers (MET II)
Reports, and even before the GAISE Pre-K-12 Report. Since then, even with the
recommendations of MET II and the widespread implementation of the CCSSM, the guidance
available to faculty wishing to develop a statistics course for professional development of in service
teachers remains scarce. We give an overview of the master’s degree program and discuss aspects of the course, including the goals for the course, course planning and development, the instructional team, course delivery and modifications, and lessons learned
through five offerings. With this paper, we share our experiences developing such a course, the
evolution of the course over multiple iterations, and what we have learned about its value to the
middle-level teachers who have participated. As more and more universities are being asked to
develop courses specifically for in-service teachers, we wrote this article in the hopes of
providing guidance to others, and to share our lessons learned.
The CAUSE Research Group is supported in part by a member initiative grant from the American Statistical Association’s Section on Statistics and Data Science Education