Data Science for Everyone Starts in Kindergarten: Strategies and Initiatives from the American Statistical Association

Abstract

The American Statistical Association (ASA) is committed to supporting and enhancing statistics and data science education at all levels, from early grades to the PhD. Attitudes about statistics and mathematics form early, so it is critical to ensure that students in the elementary grades have positive and meaningful statistics and data science education experiences. Provided with the appropriate resources and support, elementary educators will be able to create data-rich learning environments and establish the foundation for future success. This is the motivation for the focus on grades K–6 for the current education initiative, which in the United States is kindergarten (age 5) through sixth (age 11 to 12) grade levels. In this article we explore some of the ASA’s achievements and current efforts to inspire future data scientists by expanding elementary education resources.

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