In Italy 11 to 13 year old students go to the Lower Secondary School for a uniform scholastic program and to complete their compulsory education. After this students may choose to go to a variety of Upper Secondary Schools different in the length of their study programs (5, 4, or 3 years) as well as their study specializations (scientific/classical, technical, artistic, teacher training, professional training). Not all Upper Secondary Schools teach Statistics and Probability. Only technical and professional instruction provides, in some specializations and at different levels, for the study of Statistics and Probability in the last years of School (classes III, IV, V). Combinatorics and Probability when thought are always part of the mathematics program. Similarly Statistics can be found in the mathematics program, only if it includes Probability. Otherwise it is a part of the program of subjects concerned with economics, finance and so on. Reform projects have been under study in which mathematicians have proposed the introduction of Statistics and Probability into the mathematics program for all Upper Secondary Schools. At this moment the reform is still under discussion and it is not easy to predict how much time will be needed to reach an agreement. At this moment, apart from the contents of programs, the most serious problem for the teaching of Statistics in Italy is whether it is being effectively taught because of the limited preparation of teachers actively involved in the teaching of these programs.
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