Between teaching a full workload of classes here at Germantown Academy and attending regional and national math conferences, Upper School Mathematics Teacher Ruth Carver still managed to find time to co-author Introduction to Statistical Investigations AP Version, a statistics textbook that was published this summer by John Wiley and Sons.

"This is a companion text to the college version of the textbook Introduction to Statistical Investigations published in 2015," said Carver, who is a class tester for the college text and was asked to adapt it for the Advanced Placement (AP) statistics curriculum, which meant writing 28 new sections specifically for the AP course.

What makes this text different from other introductory statistics texts? For one, the work for both the college and AP versions of the text, and the teacher workshops that Carver and her co-authors have presented across the country, is being supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation for Innovative Teaching Methods for Introductory Statistics.

Carver attended her first workshop on teaching statistical inference using simulation and randomization methods in 2014. Like her fellow authors of Introduction to Statistical Investigation, she believes that with the advent of computers, there is no alternative but to teach statistics using this approach. This involved a lot of work in adapting the materials to make sure that all of the content that students need to be successful on the AP Statistics exam was covere

Now that the work is done, Carver is excited that this new text will provide other adventurous high school teachers the keys they need to implement a curriculum that emphasizes active learning on the part of students, conceptual understanding of fundamental statistical ideas, use of engaging applications involving genuine data, and development of student communication skills.

Here at GA, Carver teaches AP Statistics. She served as Chair of the Mathematics Department from 1996 to 2014 and was the first recipient of the Black Family Endowed Chair for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (2013-2016). She has been involved with the Advanced Placement Statistics program as a reader and table leader and served on the AP Statistic Test Development Committee from 2008-2012. She is also the co-founder of the Philadelphia Area Statistics Teachers' Association (PASTA), a member of the executive board and two-time past president of the Association of Teachers of Mathematics of Philadelphia Area and Vicinity (ATMOPAV), and a consultant for the Middle States Region of the College Board. She also co-wrote AP Statistics Test Prep Series for Stats Modeling the World, 4th Edition (Pearson Education).

During her time as an educator, Carver has been the recipient of the Siemens Foundation AP Teacher Award, the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the National Education and Technology Alliance STAR Award and "Best of the Best" Award, the Teachers Teaching with Technology Demana/Waits Vision Award, and the Tandy Technology Prize for Teaching Excellence in Mathematics, Science, and Computer Science.