STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 1

Statistics TEKS and CCSS Alignment

Emily Bunn, Jennifer Danhof, Becca Wilson

Texas Christian University

STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 2

Background

In the United States, 42 states and the District of Columbia utilize the Common Core

State Standards (CCSS) for their curriculum. The eight states that do not utilize the CCSS use

standards specific to their state. These numbers are based solely on the mathematics standards

and excludes the use of English language arts or other content area standards (“About the

Standards: Development Process,” 2018). The state of Texas chose to opt out of using the CCSS

and instead implemented their own standards known as the Texas Essential Knowledge and

Skills (TEKS) (“About the Standards: Development Process,” 2018; Historical Overview of

Assessment in Texas,” 2016).

The TEKS were implemented in the 1998-1999 school year after evolving from the

Essential Elements implemented in 1984 (“Historical Overview of Assessment in Texas,” 2016).

The TEKS currently used were most recently revised beginning in 2008 with the English

language arts section and continued with a different section each year until 2012 when the last

section was revised, the mathematics section (“Historical Overview of Assessment in Texas,”

2016). The TEKS were created to be a more specific and thorough curriculum than the previous

standards. Additionally, the TEKS were intended to be more focused on students’ knowledge

and skills as opposed to teachers quality of instruction. This decision lead to the 1999 revision of

the existing yearly standardized state test Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS), the

creation of Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) in 2003, and finally the State of

Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) in 2013 (“Historical Overview of

Assessment in Texas,” 2016). Elementary TEKS include standards for ten content areas for

every grade level including subsections for each content area. The mathematics subsections

include number and operations, algebraic reasoning, geometry and measurement, data analysis,
STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 3

and personal financial literacy. The subsections have a varying number of standards depending

on the grade level.

The CCSS were implemented across the United States in 2010. These standards were

created because governing state officials wanted standards that would prepare students for the

classroom and beyond across the country (“About the Standards: Development Process,” 2018).

The CCSS contains standards for English language arts and mathematics instruction. Both

content areas are organized by grade level and specific subsections. The subsections for

mathematics include operations and algebraic thinking, number and operations in base ten,

number and operations with fractions, measurement and data, and geometry. The number of

standards in each subsection vary across grade levels.

Methodology

For this assignment, the TEKS and CCSS are analyzed according to the GAISE

framework. The GAISE framework separates statistics expectations into three levels: Level A,

Level B, and Level C. While the levels are progressive in nature, there is a continuum; that is, a

student can be Level A in some aspects of statistics while Level B in others. Further, students in

the same level do not all look the same. For example, a beginning Level A student and a student

transitioning into Level B would both be classified as Level A students but possess very different

characteristics in terms of their abilities. Finally, the levels do not correspond with grade levels

or ages; they simply represent students’ statistics abilities at a given time.

Level A

In Level A, students need to develop data sense; they need to understand that these

numbers provide information. Teachers should give students the opportunity to graph different

types of data, such as categorical and numerical, and what the best way is to graph these types of
STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 4

data. Students should also understand how to find the mean, median, and mode of their data and

what that might mean for their data or how it answers any questions. Students need to learn to

ask what could cause their data to look the way it does when reading and interpreting their data.

They need to have experience comparing groups based on a characteristic of the groups, such as

by using a stem and leaf plot to compare the way different genders performed. They should also

have experience completing simple experiments and graphing data from those experiments.

From the graphed data, they should be able to look at the gaps and clusters in the distribution and

decide what that could mean. They should also have experience looking for associations between

a numerical variable and a categorical variable, as well as two numerical variables, and using

scatterplots to look for trends and patterns in their data. Teachers should begin to encourage

students to look at variability and probability and what that could mean for their data. Learning

opportunities for students such as collecting their own data, through conducting a survey or

completing a simple experiment, would be appropriate for students in this level. Teachers might

encourage students at Level A to record their data using tally marks before they go on to create

stem and leaf plots, dot plots, or bar graphs to represent their data. Once students have created a

visual representation of their data, it would be appropriate to ask them to describe the data using

statistical measures such as mean, median, mode, and range to describe their findings. To help

students analyze their data, teachers could ask questions such as “How are these two categories

the same? How are they different? What could be a reason one category has more data than

another?” and so on, to help students think about similarities and differences both between and

among the categories of data.

STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 5

Level B

Students transitioning into Level B would begin to look beyond the data set and into the

general population. In other words, students begin to understand that their sample may not

represent the entire population they are trying to test, so they begin to expand their data sets. In

addition, students begin viewing data in groups instead of individuals, so they begin to make

comparisons between groups rather than solely between individuals. Students at Level B not only

recognize mean and median, but also they also recognize, understand, and can prove why mean

and median are measures of central tendency. Students at Level B also understand various ways

to collect data based on their formulated statistical questions, such as questionnaires, simple

random sampling, and comparative experiments. Level B students analyze data through more

complex displays, such as stem and leaf plots, boxplots, and scatterplots. The key distinction

between students in Level A and Level B with regards to displays is that Level B students are

able to manipulate their displays to uncover patterns, associations, and frequencies with data.

Students can also make critical decisions about their displays based on the type of data, area of

focus in the initial statistical question, and sample size. This differs from Level A because

students in Level A are primarily given instructions on displays and are often provided with the

statistical question. Finally, students transitioning from Level B to Level C can formulate

statistical questions on their own that likely produce data that can be generalized beyond the

sample set. In addition, these students not only recognize measures of central tendency in data

such as the mean, but they can calculate the MAD and understand its relevance in context with

the entire data set, moving them towards the idea of standard deviation. Learning opportunities

such as allowing students to pose their own questions of interest (perhaps with help from

teacher), using surveys to collect data and conducting simple experiments that demonstrate the
STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 6

importance of random sampling, are all appropriate ways to assist students in progressing further

towards Level C. Learning activities that do not encourage students to look beyond the data and

make interpretations, or do not allow students to pose and investigate their own questions of

interest would not be appropriate to help students develop their statistical literacy. Activities that

are too advanced (such as working with chance variability or generalizing data from a small

sample to an entire population) would not be appropriate at this level.

Level C

Students at Level C should be able to use and extend on basic concepts that they learned

previously in Levels A and B with studies that have a deeper statistical nature; students should

also be able to further explain statistical reasoning to others. While at Level C, students should

be able to answer questions of interest that they can formulate on their own. In answering these

questions, students should be able to create a plan for collecting data, display data accurately,

draw conclusions from data, use the data to support their conclusions, as well as understand the

role random variation plays in the inference process. When students are at a Level C, they should

understand the features of sample surveys and experimental designs. This should mean that

students are able to set up versions of both types of investigations, analyze the data appropriately

for each study, and state conclusions for these studies. Most importantly, Level C students look

beyond the data and can make inferences about the general population when only given a

sample. Level C students see patterns in data and can analyze the patterns for generalizability.

Alignment Chart

To align the standards in grades kindergarten through eighth with the levels of the GAISE

frameork, the standards were sorted into a table. See Appendix A for the table, “Statistics

Standards Alignment Chart.”

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Findings

The findings for this alignment are organized by section of the GAISE framework:

formulate questions, collect data, analyze data, interpret results, and variability. The analysis of

the standards is also broken down by grade bands: kindergarten through second grade, third

through fifth grade, and sixth through eighth grade.

Formulate Questions

Kindergarten through second grade. For formulating questions, the kindergarten, first

grade, and second grade TEKS and CCSS fall under Level A of the GAISE Framework.

Throughout the standards, the expectations for the students revolve around what they will create

based on the data for the question of interest. None of the standards in either the CCSS or the

TEKS specify that the students will assist the teacher in creating a question for the students to

solve, and instead mention a few times that students will simply answer questions or solve

problems (1.B.8.c; 1.MD.C.4; 2.MD.D.10). In the second grade TEKS, there is one mention of

students formulating problems to solve (2.B.10.c), but this focuses on students writing problems

based on the data that they have found after they already have a question that they are focusing

on.

Third grade through fifth grade. Similar to the both the TEKS and CCSS probability

standards found in K-2, there are no standards in grades 3-5 which directly reference a student’s

participation in the formulation of a statistical question. Standards in third, fourth, and fifth grade

each state that students should be able to solve one- and two-step problems using categorical

data, but do not specify the origin of the problems or questions (3.b.8.a; 4.b.9.b; 5.b.9.c). No

CCSS standards related to statistics can be found in third grade, though CCSS standards in both

fourth and fifth grade mention students solving problems using information presented in line
STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 8

plots, but again without mention of the origin of the problem or question (4.MD.B.4; 5.MD.B.2).

The standards from both TEKS and CCSS appear to have similar requirements across this

gradeband, with all standards falling within Level A on the GAISE framework, though the direct

comparison between each set of third grade statistics standards can not be made, as there are not

any third grade CCSS standards found to have a focus on statistics.

Sixth grade through eighth grade. The TEKS and CCSS for sixth through eighth grade

do not specify expectations for students with regards to formulating questions. However, the

sixth grade CCSS (6.SP.A.1) specifically focus on students’ recognition and understanding of the

“statistical question distinction” as is emphasized in Level B of the GAISE framework. The sixth

grade TEKS have a mirroring standard (13.B), where students are expected to recognize

situations which yield variability. This standard expects students to examine questions and

situations with more generalizations, as is expected in Level B of the framework. Both the TEKS

and CCSS standards align with Level B because encouraging students to focus on the nature of

questions indicates a transition to students creating their own questions. Aside from the two

aforementioned standards, there are no additional standards relating to formulating statistics

questions in the seventh or eighth grade TEKS or CCSS.

Though the content is the same between the TEKS and CCSS with regards to formulating

questions, the details and specificity of expectations are much richer in the CCSS. For example,

the CCSS standard (6.SP.A.1) that focuses on formulating questions actually provides an

example of a question yielding variability and one without, making it clear to teachers and

students what this standard expects. The mirroring TEKS standard does not provide clear and

explicit examples such as this.

STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 9

Collect Data

Kindergarten through second grade. In terms of collecting data, each grade level

mentions students collecting data and the expectations of the standards would have students

working at Level A of the GAISE Framework. In the kindergarten and first grade TEKS, they

mention that students simply collect data and organize it into two or three categories (K.B.8.a;

1.B.8.a). In these two grade levels, there is no mention of collecting data in the CCSS. In second

grade, the CCSS mention that students collect data, and are more specific than the TEKS by

stating that the data should be measurement data. Students should be measuring lengths of either

several objects or one object repeatedly (2.MD.D.9). While this is more specific than the TEKS

for kindergarten and first grade, no mention of data collection is given in the second grade

TEKS. While the TEKS do not specify what type of data should be collected, this does not mean

that the collection of measurement data is not expected of students of this age. Because the

standards are not specific, different types of data collection could be appropriate for students of

this age level. However, in terms of the classification for the GAISE framework, this lack of

specificity means that only simple experiments are assumed to be completed by the students. A

major portion of this area of the framework also revolves around whether students are designing

for differences. Because of the simple nature of the way data collection is mentioned in these

standards, it can be assumed that students are not designing for differences in their data

collection methods.

Third grade through fifth grade. With a virtual lack of statistics standards which

mention students collecting data, both in the 3-5 TEKS and 3-5 CCSS, it is difficult to say at

which GAISE level each set of standards requires students to be. As there are no mentions of

collecting data, one can assume students are not expected to design for differences, or collect any
STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 10

data beyond a classroom census or simple experiment. The closest mention of collecting data

found in either set of standards would be summarizing or representing data collected through

unspecified means. The third grade TEKS include a statistics standard which references

summarizing a data set with multiple categories (3.b.8.a), with a similar fourth grade standard

including representing data on a frequency table, dot plot, or stem-and-leaf plot (4.b.9.a). A fifth

grade standard from the TEKS highlights students representing categorical data with bar graphs

or frequency tables, and representing numerical data with dot plots or stem-and-leaf plots

(5.b.9.a). Each of these standards stays within the guidelines for GAISE Level A. CCSS

standards in this content strand and grade level include similar guidelines for representing data,

as well (4.MD.B.4; 5.MD.B.2), again remaining within Level A.

Though each set of standards features an absence of focus on collecting data in the 3-5

grade band, both the TEKS and CCSS do have standards that focus on representing data. This

data could have been collected by the student or provided by the teacher, depending on the

interpretation of the standard any given teacher. The standards regarding representing data,

however, are similar between the grade band standards found in both the TEKS and CCSS. The

main difference is that the CCSS include students using fractions in their intervals (4.MD.B.4;

5.MD.B.2), while the TEKS do not specify units other than “scaled intervals” (3.b.8.a).

Sixth grade through eighth grade. The data collection process is scarcely mentioned in

the sixth through eighth grade TEKS and CCSS, as these grade levels focus more on analyzing

and interpreting data. However, a seventh grade CCSS (7.SP.A.1) and eighth grade TEKS

(8.b.11) standard focus on the use of random sampling and using random samples to represent

the population.These standards align with Level C of the GAISE framework in the data

collection section, which states that students can use sampling designs with random selection.
STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 11

Students are expected in these two standards to understand random sampling, but the standards

make it unclear whether students are actually collecting data through random sampling, or just

exploring the nature of random sampling hypothetically.

An interesting note about this section with regard to the GAISE framework is that though

both standards align with Level C on the framework, they are expected in different grade levels

for each set of standards. Students are expected to perform Level C tasks in seventh grade

according to the CCSS and not until eighth grade according to the TEKS. This discrepancy is

major because students may not even be at Level C in either grade level, yet they are expected to

complete tasks with the demands of Level C. Additionally, only standards relating to collecting

data align with Level C, which could create problems for students since they must understand

how to collect data in order to subsequently analyze and interpret data. Because students are

expected to demonstrate a more rigorous level of understanding for collecting data, they may not

be able to achieve these expectations before having to analyze and interpret data.

Analyze Data

Kindergarten through second grade. When analyzing data, the TEKS and CCSS for

kindergarten through second grade have students completing tasks that would be considered a

Level A of the GAISE Framework. Of the portions of the GAISE Framework, this section had

the greatest number of standards for these grade levels, which seems to signify that this is the

focus of what is expected of students regarding data and probability. Both the TEKS and CCSS

focus mainly on students creating different types of graphs with the data, but do so in different

grade levels. In the TEKS, kindergarten students are expected to create real-object and picture

graphs (K.B.8.b) and first grade students are expected to create picture and bar graphs with data

(1.B.8.b). The CCSS for these grades do not mention students making graphs based on data.
STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 12

Both the second grade TEKS and CCSS mention graphs should be made using data, but the

CCSS mention an additional type of graph that students should be able to make. The TEKS and

CCSS require students to display data in bar graphs and pictographs (2.B.10.b; 2.MD.D.10) and

the CCSS also require students to use line plots to display data (2.MD.D.9). While this

understanding would be assumed if students are able to create pictographs and bar graphs, the

TEKS specify that students should be able to explain what these graphs tell us, that is that the

length of the bars in bar graphs and the number of pictures in a pictograph represent the number

of data points for the different categories (2.B.10.a). The goal of this is for students to be able to

create a graph and see what information students can interpret based on the graph, which

according to the framework would be that students are observing associations between two

variables, an expectation in Level A.

The standards also discuss how students should organize their data before creating

graphs. In kindergarten, both the TEKS and CCSS mention that students should sort and

organize data into various categories, but they both provide different specifics of how students

should do this. The CCSS require that students count the objects in each category and sort the

categories by the number of data points in the various categories, but do not mention a number of

categories students should have when they are sorting (K.MD.B.3). The TEKS do not mention

how students should organize the data into categories and allow students to choose this on their

own, but they do mention that they should have either two or three categories that they have

divided the data into (K.B.8.a). In first grade, both the TEKS and CCSS build on what they each

specified in kindergarten to make it more appropriate for the next grade level. The standards are

more aligned in what they expect in first grade, as they both state that students should organize

and sort data in up to three categories (1.B.8.a.; 1.MD.C.4). However, the first grade TEKS also
STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 13

specify that students should organize this data using models and give examples of using tally

marks or T-charts (1.B.8.a). The TEKS and CCSS in second grade are similar to the standards

for first grade and kindergarten for organizing data. In second grade, the expectations for the

organization are higher due to the change in grade level, and students are now expected to

organize their data in up to four categories in both sets of standards (2.B.10.b; 2.MD.D.10).

Third grade through fifth grade. Neither the TEKS nor CCSS include statistics

standards in this grade band that have a focus on analyzing data. Since there are no specific

standards which present which would require student thinking to go beyond comparing

individual to individual or individual to group, observing association between two variables, or

displaying variability within a group, one can conclude that this grade band remains in GAISE

Level A across both sets of standards. As mentioned in previous sections, the statistics TEKS

and CCSS that are present within this grade band could be interpreted differently from teacher to

teacher; some may choose to incorporate aspects within the “Analyze Data” section of the

GAISE framework, even though it is not explicitly required by either set of standards, while

other teachers may focus solely on what is specifically stated in the standards.

Sixth grade through eighth grade. Many of the sixth through eighth grade standards

which align with the data analysis section of the GAISE framework relate to presenting data on

displays. The complexity of the display increases as the grade levels progress, which is indicated

through their placement in Level A for sixth grade and Level B for seventh and eighth grade. For

example, the sixth grade TEKS and CCSS both expect students to represent data on displays

such as box plots and dot plots (6.b.12; 6.SP.B.4), but the CCSS specify histograms where the

TEKS specify stem-and-leaf plots. According to Level A of the GAISE framework, students at

this level compare individual to individual with regards to data. In order to move to Level B,
STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 14

students should begin to compare group to group using displays, so these two sixth grade

standards represent this progression from Level A to Level B, since students are expected to use

displays to represent data. However, the standards are unclear in their expectations of students to

compare within group versus between groups in sixth grade.

In contrast, the seventh grade TEKS 7.b.12 specifically notes the expectation that

students compare groups using displays. This standard fits clearly in Level B of the framework,

and makes sense because students the year prior were beginning to move to Level B.

Interestingly, the seventh grade CCSS relating to data analysis (7.SP.B.3) is significantly

different from the aforementioned TEKS standard. The TEKS simply use the language “compare

two groups of numeric data...by comparing their shapes, centers, and spreads.” This language is

much more vague than that of the CCSS standard, which cites students’ ability to “informally

assess the degree of visual overlap of two numerical data distributions with similar variabilities,

measuring the difference between the centers by expressing it as a multiple of a measure of

variability.” While both standards indicate students’ ability to compare two displays using

measures of center, the CCSS is much more specific in their actual expectations of students. Not

only this, but the CCSS moves past the TEKS in terms of using this comparison as a measure of

variability, which the TEKS does not mention. In essence, both standards align with Level B of

the GAISE framework, but the CCSS standard represents the progression from Level B to Level

C, while the TEKS standard is closer to Level A on the continuum.

Where the sixth and seventh grade data analysis TEKS and CCSS focus primarily on

representing data in displays for the purposes of simple comparison, the eighth grade standards

move beyond and expect students to use displays such as scatter plots to analyze for association.

The TEKS and CCSS are somewhat similar in the “Analyze Data” section of the GAISE
STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 15

framework, since all the standards in this section align with Level B. However, the content and

expectations are slightly different between the two sets of standards. For example, the TEKS

8.b.11.A and CCSS 8.SP.A.1 both expect students to construct scatterplots to analyze

associations in bivariate data. Both standards use the word “construct” so there is no discrepancy

in expectations with regards to the display. However, students are expected to recognize more

patterns of association in the CCSS than the TEKS. The TEKS standard expects students to find

patterns such as linear, nonlinear, and no association, where the CCSS additionally expect

students to recognize clustering, outliers, and positive or negative association. No TEKS

standards address these patterns, so there is slight content discrepancy with these standards.

Nevertheless, the slight differences in expectations between these two standards does not affect

their placement in the GAISE framework as Level B. Level B students can use “simple models

for association” which is present in these standards. Other discrepancies with regards to content

include the TEKS specification of mean and absolute deviation (8.b.11.B) as a measure of

distance from the mean, and no mention from the CCSS. In contrast, the CCSS mention model

fitting for linear association (8.SP.A.2) but the TEKS do not.

Interpret Results

Kindergarten through second grade. The TEKS and CCSS for kindergarten through

second grade that require students to interpret results align with Level A of the GAISE

Framework. Of the five sections of the GAISE Framework, this standards in this section are most

similar in these grade levels when comparing the TEKS to the CCSS. The difference between the

two standards mostly lies in the specificity the CCSS uses when describing similar tasks. For

example, in kindergarten, the TEKS simply state that students should “draw conclusions from

real-object and picture graphs” (K.B.8.c). The Common Core standard in turn states that students
STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 16

should “directly compare two objects with a measurable attribute in common, to see which

object has ‘more of’/‘less of’ the attribute, and describe the difference” (K.MD.A.2). While the

CCSS specifies exactly how students are expected to draw conclusions, they are still completing

the same task. This pattern repeats in the first grade standards, with the difference being that the

CCSS instead discuss how students should answer questions about the data (1.MD.C.4) when the

TEKS list that students should answer questions (1.B.8.c). One difference between the TEKS

and CCSS in these grade levels is that the TEKS require that students use a graph or a tool when

drawing conclusions and the CCSS do not mention these tools or similar tools. This pattern

changes with the standards for the second grade, as the CCSS mention students should use

information in a bar graph to solve problems and the TEKS require students to use pictographs

and bar graphs (2.MD.D.10; 1.B.10.c). The CCSS and TEKS again are similar in the rest of the

standards for second grade, as they both require students to solve simple or one-step problems

using information in the graph, with the TEKS also requiring students to write their own

problems (2.MD.D.10; 2.B.10.c). These standards align with Level A of the GAISE Framework

as they are having students observe associations in displays. Due to the lack of specificity in the

TEKS and CCSS, it is assumed that students are continuing to work in Level A, as there is no

evidence that students would be looking beyond the data or making generalizations beyond the

classroom.

Third grade through fifth grade. Considering all of the 3-5 statistics standards found in

both the TEKS and CCSS, the one standard that most closely indicates interpreting results is

third grade TEKS 3.b.8.a: “summarize a data set with multiple categories using a frequency

table, dot plot, pictograph, or bar graph with scaled intervals.” This standard indicates that a third

grade student should be able to create some sort of graph or table that acts as a visual
STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 17

representation of some set of data. The created chart or table acts as a summary of the data,

which could be used to interpret the data. As all 3-5 statistics standards found in both the TEKS

and CCSS discussed so far have done, this standard also aligns with Level A on the GAISE

framework.

Sixth grade through eighth grade. The majority of sixth grade statistics standards focus

on interpreting data, however the standards align with both Level A and Level B of the GAISE

framework. Sixth grade students are expected to interpret results from displays such as stem-and-

leaf plots, but this is only specified in the TEKS (6.b.13.a). Both the TEKS and CCSS mention

students’ abilities to recognize measures of center, spread, and shape in data sets, but the two sets

of standards use different verbiage to describe these expectations (6.b.12.b; 6.SP.A.2). The

TEKS uses the word “describe” where the CCSS uses the word “recognize.” This discrepancy in

verbiage is not severe, however the CCSS expectations are more general and vague where the

TEKS are much more specific in their expectations. While the CCSS use more general language,

there are more standards related to interpreting data using measures of center for sixth grade than

in the TEKS. The additional standard in the CCSS relates to students’ abilities to quantify

measures of center and understand what those numbers represent as well as understand and use

measures of variability (6.SP.A.3). The aforementioned standards in both the TEKS and CCSS

align with Level A of the GAISE framework due to the focus on visual aspects of data sets,

however the CCSS standard “recognize that a measure of center for a numerical data set

summarizes all of its values with a single number, while a measure of variation describes how its

values vary with a single number” (6.SP.A.3) is progressing students towards Level B because of

the beginning aspects of quantifying variability. With that being said, two sixth grade TEKS

align with Level B of the GAISE framework (6.b.12.c; 6.b.12.d). Students are quantifying
STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 18

measures of center using numerical summaries IQR and describing distribution using numerical

summaries such as relative frequency tables and graphical summaries such as percent graphs.

The quantification of such patterns in data aligns with Level B on the GAISE framework.

In seventh grade, there are two TEKS and two CCSS standards relating to interpreting

data, with all four aligning with Level B of the GAISE framework. The TEKS standards

(7.b.12.b; 7.b.12.c) are similar to the CCSS in terms of content, but are much less detailed in

terms of their expectations of students. For example, the TEKS simply state students’ abilities to

“use data from a random sample to make inferences about a population” (7.b.12.b) where the

CCSS go further, expecting students to “use data from a random sample to draw inferences about

a population with an unknown characteristic of interest” and “generate multiple samples (or

simulated samples) of the same size to gauge the variation in estimates or predictions”

(7.SP.A.2). As seen with these two standards, the content expectations are the same: to use

random samples to make inferences further than the sample, but there is much more detail in the

CCSS standards. Similarly, the other two standards mirror this pattern, where the CCSS standard

contains the same content as the TEKS standard (7.b.12.c), but with more detail. While both

standards focus on comparative inferences between two populations, the CCSS also includes

expectations of how students would make these inferences: measures of center and measures of

variability (7.SP.B.4). All the aforementioned standards align with Level B of the GAISE

framework because of their focus on students moving beyond the data sets and making

inferences about the general population. Level B also notes students’ abilities to “note the

difference between two groups with different conditions” which is expected in the CCSS

standard 7.SP.A.2.
STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 19

There are no eighth grade TEKS which focus on interpreting results. The two CCSS

standards relate to bivariate association, which aligns with Level B on the GAISE framework.

For example, students are expected to use relative frequency tables to describe association

between multiple variables (8.SP.A.4). According to the GAISE framework, Level B students

can interpret basic models for association and note differences in the strength of association,

aligning with the aforementioned standards.

Variability

Kindergarten through fifth grade. Looking at both the TEKS and CCSS statistical

standards, the idea of variability is not mentioned in any of the elementary grades, kindergarten

through fifth grade, in either set of standards. This indicates that students at these grade levels are

not receiving statistical instruction. Because no statistics standards are present in these grade

levels, is is not possible to make any alignments to the levels found in the GAISE framework.

Sixth grade through eighth grade. Moving into the middle grades, six through eighth,

the idea of variability begins to appear. In both sixth and seventh grade, standards focusing on

encouraging students to notice whether or not variability is present in a set of data can be found

in both the TEKS (6.b.13.b) and CCSS (6.SP.A.1). Introductions to quantifying the variability

can be found in CCSS (6.SP.B.5.C and D; 7.SP.B.3; 7.SP.B.4) as well. However, similar to the

elementary grade levels, eighth grade does not include and statistical standards according to

either the TEKS or CCSS.

In terms of variability, all of the standards mentioned in this section align with Level A of

the GAISE framework. Though each individual standard may align overall to a different level

(such as Level B or C) on the GAISE framework, the portion of each of the statistical standards

that mentions variability (in both the TEKS and CCSS) remains aligned with Level A. This is
STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 20

because the variability portions of the GAISE framework state that at Level A students should

develop an understanding of measurement, natural, and induced variabilities, as well as focus

only on variability within a group. This describes all of the statistical standards relating to

variability that are found in grades six through eight.

Conclusion

Overall, the TEKS and CCSS align in the broad aspects of the statistics standards for

grades kindergarten through eighth. As seen in Table 1, there are instances where TEKS are

present in different grade levels than the CCSS, or lack of TEKS with certain content present in

the CCSS. Although the standards sometimes differ in their wording and exact expectations,

elements of the GAISE framework are still present in these standards across grade levels.

In general, the CCSS seem to be more general and inclusive in their expression of the

standards. For example, in seventh grade, the TEKS simply state students’ abilities to “use data

from a random sample to make inferences about a population” (7.b.12.b) where the CCSS

include more detail, because students are expected to “use data from a random sample to draw

inferences about a population with an unknown characteristic of interest” and “generate multiple

samples (or simulated samples) of the same size to gauge the variation in estimates or

predictions” (7.SP.A.2). Although this is a minute difference, the expectations of these two

standards is different and could be interpreted as a more inclusive standard by a teacher using the

CCSS. Moreover, the TEKS seem to be generally more specific and are broken up into more

sections than the CCSS. Where a subsection of the TEKS may contain up to 10 standards, the

most a subsection of CCSS contains is three. This does not necessarily mean the TEKS expect

more of students, rather the standards are just broken up differently between the two sets of

standards. The CCSS often combines several TEKS standards into one, longer standard.
STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 21

Teachers may see the amount of standards in the TEKS and become overwhelmed, whereas the

CCSS may appear more manageable when viewing them just in terms of number of standards.

As described, the language used in the CCSS sometimes differs from the TEKS, but

rarely in the action verbs that define the expectations of the standard. In other words, the two sets

of standards do not yield different expectations for students in terms of what the students are

expected to produce based on mastering the standard. That being said, because of the difference

in specificity between the TEKS and CCSS, teachers may differ in how they plan instruction and

how deeply they cover concepts. While the TEKS standards in isolation tend to appear simple,

when combined with the other standards in their subsection they are covering deep concepts. If

teachers view TEKS standards in isolation, they may not cover concepts as deeply as students

need in order to completely meet the standard of the subsection as a whole. In contrast, because

the CCSS often combine many TEKS standards into one, teachers may feel they are able to

spend more time and go more deeply into concepts because they are only required to cover two

or three standards in order to master a subsection.

According to this alignment, the standards in both the TEKS and CCSS for grades

kindergarten through fifth align with level A of the GAISE framework. In sixth grade, some of

the standards start to align with level B, so there is a natural progression further down the

continuum as students progress into middle school. However, because students are only exposed

to 5 statistics standards in the TEKS for third through fifth grade and two standards in the CCSS,

students have very little exposure to statistics before the expectations are much higher in middle

school. For this reason, there should be more standards in third through fifth grade that prepare

students for the increased rigor and amount of statistics standards present in sixth through eighth

grade.
STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 22

In conclusion, the TEKS and CCSS mostly align in statistics content for the standards in

grades kindergarten through eighth. There are differences in the way they are worded and

aligned in the GAISE framework according to grade level, but overall, students are expected to

learn the same statistics content in both sets of standards.

STATISTICS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT 23

References

About the standards: Development process (2018). Common Core State Standards Initiative.

Retrieved from: http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/development-process/

Franklin, C., Kader, G., Mewborn, D., Moreno, J., Peck, R., Perry, M., et al. (2007). Guidelines

for assessment and instruction in statistics education (GAISE) report: A pre-k-12

curriculum framework. Alexandria, VA: American Statistical Association.

Historical Overview of Assessment in Texas (2016). In Technical digest (Chapter 1).

Retrieved from: https://tea.texas.gov/Student_Testing_and_Accountability/Testing/

Student_AssessmentOverview/Technical_Digest_2015-2016/

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2000). Principles and standards for school

mathematics. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.