2026 AP Statistics Summer Institute
Instructor: Marty Sternstein
martys@ithaca.edu
This AP Statistics workshop will provide an overview of statistical ideas and concepts and give
valuable resources and instructional strategies for teaching AP Statistics. We will cover all the
changes coming for the 2026-2027 academic year as they appear in the four principal areas of the
AP Curriculum: Exploratory Analysis, Data Collection, Probability, and Statistical Inference.
Participants will be given instruction on content, classroom activities, teaching strategies, time
management, uses of technology, review for the exam, cumulative projects, and exposure to
previous AP questions. There will be a discussion of AP goals, resources, the new CED, the
College Board AP Classroom, equity issues, the course audit, and recommended textbooks.
There will be instruction on the new emphasis on the “Statistical Problem-Solving Process.” This
workshop will be valuable not only to teachers planning to teach or already teaching AP
Statistics, but also to Pre-AP teachers who through vertical teaming can help prepare and
encourage students to take AP Statistics.
More specifically, the following topics will be covered in some detail:
1) Exploratory Analysis: graphical displays including dotplots, bar charts, histograms,
mosaic plots, stemplots, and boxplots; numerical summaries including median and mean, range,
interquartile range, variance, and standard deviation; bivariate data including scatterplots,
correlation, the least squares regression line, the coefficient of determination, and residuals; and
categorical data including frequency tables and Simpson’s paradox.
2) Planning a Study: simple random sampling, sampling error, sources of bias in surveys,
and stratification to reduce variation; observational studies vs experiments; blinding, double-
blinding, blocking; random sampling vs random assignment.
3) Probability: multistage probability calculations, discrete random variables and their
probability distributions, simulation of probability distributions, and means and standard
deviations for sums and differences of random variables; normal, and binomial distributions;
sampling distributions of sample means and sample proportions.
4) Statistical Inference: confidence intervals for means and proportions, and difference of
two means or proportions; hypothesis tests including null and alternative hypotheses, p-values,
one and two sided tests, Type I and Type II errors; tests for a proportion, for a mean, and for a
difference; chi-square tests for independence and for homogeneity; the t-distribution and
associated single sample and two sample t-procedures.
Much of the above will be presented and illustrated in the context of activity-based examples.
Detailed agenda
Introductions
AP Central is invaluable – apcentral.collegeboard.com
Achieving Equity – Not an achievement gap, but rather an opportunity gap
AP Course Audit (for new and returning teachers!)
College Board AP Statistics CED and the AP Classroom
Brief History, Growth, Curriculum, and the Exam
Opening Activities
o Summer assignment
o Day 1 homework survey
o Two waters
o Distracted driving
o Westvaco
Part I (Exploring One-Variable Data)
o Bordering state activity
o SOCS and CUSS
o Old Faithful
o Liberia – Canada histogram exercise
o Penny activity on mean and standard deviation
o 2016 AP Exam Question #1, 2015 AP Exam Question #1
o A FRQ in the new format
Part II (Collecting Data)
o Randomization: Lanarkshire milk experiment
o Wording: Largest redwood
o Beyonce: Crazy in Love
o Poor vs good sampling techniques
o Jelly Blubber activity
o Bruno Mars concert exercise
o 2011 AP Question #3, a FRQ in the new format
o Observational studies vs experiments
Part III (Probability)
o The Cuteness Factor and Mosaic Plots
o Conditional probability and independence
o The Normal Distribution
o The Binomial Distribution
o Tennis Tournament probabilities
o Shooting free throws
o The new 3-part multiple-choice problems
o Random variables
o Steroid testing
o Sampling Distributions: Phone number activity
Part IV (Statistical Inference; Proportions)
o Pi activity
o The German Tank Problem
o A Tacky activity
o Sampling distribution of the sample proportion
o Logic of Confidence Intervals
o 2022 AP Question #4
o Evidence to Reject?
o Logic of Significance Testing
o 2021 AP Question #4
o A FRQ in the new format
o Various activities
o Chi-square tests of homogeneity and independence
o 2024 AP Exam Question #5
Part IV (Statistical Inference: Means)
o The Central Limit Theorem
o Sampling distribution of the sample mean
o 2009 AP Question #2
o Confidence interval for the population mean
o A FRQ in the new format
o Random Rectangles
o Morbid Math
o Hypotheses test for the population mean
o 2009B AP Question #5
o A FRQ in the new format
o Pi Day activity
Part V (Linear Regression)
o Midges!
o Barbie bungee drop activity
o Monopoly
o Valentine Day activity
o The new 3-part multiple-choice problems
Review
o The Question Bank
o Which Procedure?
o Frog/Bunny flipping activity
o Statistics Olympics
o The Ultimate List of AP Statistics Tips
Wrap-up Final questions???
