I have created two Statistics curriculums (AP Statistics and On-Level Statistics) and I often get asked, “What are the differences between the two?”. In my blog post today, I’m going to lay out the big differences between my two curriculums to help you decide what would be best for your classroom!
Grade-Level:
My AP© Statistics curriculum is aimed at students taking the AP Statistics course offered by the College Board and is getting students prepared to take the AP exam at the end of the year for college credit. The grade levels will range from sophomore to senior in my typical AP Stat class. For my regular statistics curriculum, the course is aimed at high school seniors who are looking to gain an introduction to college-level statistics, without focusing on exam preparation for college credit. In this curriculum, the content is an accessible introduction to all things statistics and works well with students of various mathematical backgrounds.
Unit Layouts and Standards Alignment:
My AP Statistics curriculum is directly aligned with the AP Stat CED, while my Statistics curriculum follows the same content flow, some standards have been taken out (like mosaic plots, and linear regression inference) and some learning objectives have been added in (like ethically conducting experiments, and Poison Probability Distributions)
There are more Statistics units to spread out the content, and those move at a different pace than AP Statistics.
The Statistics curriculum has student-friendly learning objectives for each unit, and all the Common Core Standards for Statistics and Probability are covered, plus some additional standards that go beyond the required Common Core content.
My AP Statistics Curriculum Has More Resources:
- Videos to accompany each set of guided notes
- Unit 5 – 8 in AP Statistics have two sets of tests plus a point-based grading rubric (with the rest of the units getting an extra assessment as the 2024/25 year progresses)
- More simulation and discovery activities
Assessment Choices:
AP Statistics has five answer choices for all multiple-choice questions (A – E) and Statistics has four answer choices (A – D) on all multiple-choice questions.
The free-response questions in AP Statistics are strongly influenced by past AP exam questions (which sometimes involve spiraled content questions), while the Statistics free-response questions on the assessments are more focused on assessing the learning objectives listed in the unit.
Content Focus:
The AP Statistics curriculum gets students ready for the AP Exam, and most practice problems are modeled after past AP exam choices on content focus.
The regular statistics curriculum focuses on getting students to understand the basics of statistical inquiry and calculations, and has less focus on AP-style questions.
Inference Problems:
For the AP Exam, students in AP Statistics have to get ready to show all work required of the inference steps from memory, and therefore have no prompts when asking them to create a confidence interval, perform a hypothesis test, etc. For my regular statistics class, I do not have the expectation that they can remember all the steps from memory. I have leading questions on the inference steps to help students perform the inference necessary.
Below is a side-by-side comparison of the same problem in AP Statistics Unit 8 and Regular Statistics Unit 11, both dealing with a chi-square goodness of fit test:
Calculator:
In both curriculums, I use the TI-84 calculator with my students. In AP Statistics, an emphasis is put on knowing how to use the calculator, but not writing down “calculator speak” as your work shown. In my regular statistics course, I like when students use “calculator speak” as part of their work because I can see their thinking and understand what they are doing; I do not mark off for it.
In short, both Goldie’s AP Statistics and regular Statistics curriculums have their own strengths, catering to different student needs. My AP Statistics curriculum offers a challenging, college-level experience that is perfect for teachers aiming to prepare their students to gain college credit. My regular Statistics curriculum focuses on giving students a solid understanding of essential concepts with practical applications, making it accessible and useful for everyone.
Understanding these differences can help teachers choose the right curriculum for them, ensuring a rewarding and effective teaching experience! You can check out both curriculums on TPT and on my website by clicking the buttons below. As always, if you have any questions, please comment on this post!!
Have a great start to the new school year,
Kayla “Goldie” Goldschmidt
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