National calls for augmenting statistical literacy are increasing, but are not accompanied by basic and applied knowledge about the development of statistical reasoning in children. The present project is designed to enhance our understanding and serve as a basis for development by both teachers and curriculum designers in this emerging area. Five major research questions are addressed: (1) How do children acquire strategies used for data analysis?; (2) What are the effects of domain- speific and everyday knowledge on statistical reasoning?; (3) What are children's beliefs about statistical?; (4) What if any differences in statistical reasoning exist across gender and socio-cultural background? and (5) How well do teachers understand statistical reasoning? To address these issues, data will be collected over on 320 children, selected from 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th grades, drawn from middle-class and inner-city schools in Philadelphia. Data will be collected from children in both individual and group assessments, as well as from school records. Finally, given that teachers' own knowledge is related to how well children learn in school, a study of 80 elementary school teachers will be conducted. An innovative video workshop and written manual will be developed for teachers as a way toward improving the provision of knowledge about statistical reasoning in classroom settings. Findings are expected to be crucial in the sequencing of knowledge provision in school settings, so as to take advantage of children's developing knowledge and strategies in the broad domain of statistical reasoning. Since the acquisition of statistical reasoning skills also serves as a "gatekeeper" to careers in science, mathematics, and technology, it is hoped that the results will provide useful information to enhancing the opportunities for female and disadvantaged students in entering these areas of study.
