Some teacher preparation efforts in the southeastern US: Strategies, contents, observations

In the United States, the topic of deficiency in quantitative literacy among high school graduates has been in the limelight for the past several years. Traditionally, students in US schools have not been taught statistics and probability as a regular course. The situation is particularly disappointing for many regions of the southeastern states which, in some respect, are similar to some of the developing nations around the world. We believe a long-term solution lies in nothing less than modification of requirements for mathematics teacher certification that include minimally the statistics objectives delineated by the NCTM Standards.