The article asks about the minimal number of persons required for achieving a probability 1/2 that (a.) At least two share a birthday, (b.) At least one shares the reader's birthday. A basic question about the necessary number of checks underlies both problems.

The amount of data available in the context of educational measurement has vastly increased in recent years. Such data are often incomplete, involve tests administered at different time points and during the course of many years, and can therefore be quite challenging to model. In addition, intermediate results like grades or report cards being…

Increasing focus worldwide on accountability and quality assurance in universities has forced senior management to develop policies to address academic support at institutional-level. One such area is the mathematical and statistical skills that students in many disciplines need to succeed. In common with many countries, large numbers of students…

Work integrated learning (WIL) has been the norm in disciplines such as medicine, teacher education and engineering; however, it has not been implemented until recently in statistics and not for every student in computer science education. There seems to be no literature on the use of WIL for data science education. With the changed focus of…

According to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 measurements, Slovak primary school pupils commonly can reach some below average scores in terms of scientific literacy and have less and less positive attitudes towards the natural sciences. Natural sciences and statistics are intertwined disciplines. This implies that…

In this study, we examined the effect of video-based feedback designed to highlight a peer engaging in effective thinking processes on self-efficacy beliefs and learning outcomes (performance on a delayed quiz). Students in an introductory statistics course participated in an online learning activity where they received feedback in one of three…

Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is an international comparative study designed to measure trends in mathematics and science achievement at grades 4 and 8, as well as to collect information about educational contexts (such as students' schools, teachers, and homes) that may be related to student achievement. TIMSS has…

The COVID-19 pandemic required that virtually all in-person instruction move suddenly to an online format. Given the unprecedented nature of this disruption, the California Community Colleges (CCC) issued an emergency regulation allowing all students to drop spring 2020 courses without incurring a withdrawal or "W" notation on their…

During the Spring 2020 semester, K-12 teachers throughout many parts of the world adapted from face-to-face to online teaching. To better understand these experiences, seven advanced placement (AP) Statistics high school teachers were interviewed following a semi-structured protocol. A collaborative and consensus-driven analysis of transcripts…

During the Spring 2020 semester, K-12 teachers throughout many parts of the world adapted from face-to-face to online teaching. To better understand these experiences, seven advanced placement (AP) Statistics high school teachers were interviewed following a semi-structured protocol. A collaborative and consensus-driven analysis of transcripts…

Learning about statistics is a lot like learning about science: the learning is more meaningful if you can actively explore. This ninth installment of "Explorations in Statistics" explores the analysis of ratios and normalized--or standardized--data. As researchers, we compute a ratio--a numerator divided by a denominator--to compute a…

We report on an effectiveness evaluation of the Youth Empowerment Solutions (YES) program. YES applies empowerment theory to an after-school program for middle school students. YES is an active learning curriculum designed to help youth gain confidence in themselves, think critically about their community, and work with adults to create positive…

Earlier work demonstrates that career and technical education (CTE) can provide long-term financial benefits to participants, yet few have explored potential academic impacts, with none in the era of high-stakes accountability. This paper investigates the causal impact of participating in a specialized high school-based CTE delivery system on high…

The Every Student Succeeds Act requires states to identify schools with low-performing student subgroups for Targeted Support and Improvement or Additional Targeted Support and Improvement. Random differences between students' true abilities and their test scores, also called measurement error, reduce the statistical reliability of the performance…

This Snapshot highlights key findings from a study that used Bayesian stabilization to improve the reliability (long-term stability) of subgroup proficiency measures that the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) uses to identify schools for Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) or Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI). The…