Learning progressions and the Australian curriculum mathematics: the case of statistics and probability

Mathematics curricula have traditionally focused on content knowledge, often in the form of a scope and sequence of increasingly difficult mathematics. The importance of using and applying mathematics is recognised in the current Australian Curriculum Mathematics (ACM) as ‘proficiencies’ that are intended to be integrated with the content. There is little support for teachers to develop these proficiencies – reasoning, understanding, problem solving, and fluency. Learning progressions are sequences of learning that focus on cognitive processes, and thus provide a useful basis for curriculum development. Using an empirical Statistical Reasoning Learning Progression as an exemplar, a new approach to curriculum development is suggested that links content knowledge with the proficiencies. The outcome is a zone-based, rather than year level based, curriculum that allows teachers to target their teaching, so that students develop increasingly sophisticated understanding of Statistics and Probability.