The College Board released the first ever Course and Exam Description (CED) for AP Statistics in 2019, which provided clear specificity in what needed to be covered in the course and what would be assessed on the AP Exam. Here we are five years later, and it looks like we are going to get some updates. Just today, the College Board proposed a draft of the revised course framework, to be implemented for the 2026-2027 school year and assessed for the first time on the 2027 AP Statistics Exam. The College Board is asking us AP Stats teachers to review the proposed changes and provide feedback before May 27,2024.
What Are the Proposed Big Picture Changes?
Fewer Units and a Different Order
The current CED has 9 Units. The new proposed Course Framework is condensed to only 5 units. The guiding philosophy here is that reducing the amount of content that needs to be covered will allow teachers to go more in-depth into each topic. Here is a quick correlation guide.
Course Skills are Being Replaced by Statistical Practices
In the current CED, there are four course skills categories (Selecting Statistical Methods, Data Analysis, Using Probability and Simulation, and Statistical Argumentation). In the new proposed course framework, there are four statistical practices (Formulate Questions, Collect Data, Analyze Data, Interpret Results). The four statistical practices come directly from the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE), a framework for statistics education proposed by the American Statistical Association.
What Content Has Been Removed?
Our first glance through the new proposed course framework shows the "less is more" approach. Here are the topics that have been removed.
Cumulative frequency graphs
Outliers, high-leverage points, and influential points
Analyzing departures from linearity
Geometric distributions
Estimating probabilities using simulations
Transforming and combining random variables
Type I, Type II Errors, and Power
Chi-square goodness-of-fit test
Inference for slope
What Content Has Been Added?
There is not a lot to report here, but we did find one Learning Objective that seems to be a new one:
Determine a research question within a statistical study. (1.1.B)
Where Do I Provide Feedback?
The College Board is looking for teachers to review the new proposed course framework and then to provide detailed feedback for review. You can submit your feedback on the proposed course framework here.
Will Stats Medic Make Adjustments?
Of course! You know we got your backs. We will stay on top of all the changes as they happen, and you can be sure that we will have perfectly aligned lessons along with homework and assessments ready to go the summer before the 2026-2027 school year!