The development of statistical literacy skills in the eighth grade: exploring the TIMSS data to evaluate student achievement and teacher characteristics in the United States

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between student achievement in statistics and factors at the student and teacher/classroom levels using the US 8th-grade Data and Chance content domain from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, 2007 (TIMSS, 2007). Using variables that have been linked to mathematics and statistics achievement in the literature, a hierarchical level modelling approach revealed significant achievement differences between boys and girls. Another important finding was related to a teacher's formal training. Although most of the TIMSS teachers reported participating regularly in professional development activities, almost half reported that they did not have a degree in either mathematics or mathematics education. Finally, TIMSS students' exposure to and learning of statistics-related concepts appeared to lag behind the expectations set forth in the Data Analysis and Probability Standard (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [NCTM], 2000). Implications from this study suggest that the quality and training of available statistics teachers are significant concerns.

Keywords:

• TIMSS
• Data and Chance content domain
• statistics learning
• teaching statistics
• teacher preparation
• HLM