Abstract
Probability is no longer featured as an important domain of study in the elementary and lower secondary school mathematics curriculum in the United States. The majority of U.S. states have adopted a mathematics curriculum that has eliminated probability as a topic of study in the elementary grades and narrowed its focus in the lower secondary grades. I illustrate the decline of probability via an overview of the various standards documents that have guided mathematics curriculum and instruction for the past 25 years. This situation is not unique to the United States; many other countries around the world do not include probability in the mathematics curriculum for students under the age of 11. I discuss the implications of this curricular decision and raise questions for the consideration of the research community.
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Notes
- 1.
In the United States, various terms are often used to distinguish the levels of schooling. Typically, the term elementary includes Kindergarten through Grade 5 (ages 5–10), middle or lower secondary refers to Grades 6–8 (ages 11–13) and high school or secondary refers to Grades 9–12 (ages 14–17). Unless otherwise noted, these are the designations I use throughout this paper when I refer to grade levels .
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Langrall, C.W. (2018). The Status of Probability in the Elementary and Lower Secondary School Mathematics Curriculum: The Rise and Fall of Probability in School Mathematics in the United States. In: Batanero, C., Chernoff, E. (eds) Teaching and Learning Stochastics. ICME-13 Monographs. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72871-1_3
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