Florence Nightingale

A collaborative effort between the American Statistical Association, House of Statistics, and Caucus for Women in Statistics (CWS), Florence Nightingale Day, which is October 27, 2018, is for middle- and high-school students and their teachers to discover the opportunities for careers in statistics and data science, do activities with data, and develop connections. Throughout the day, participants will meet successful women in statistics and data science, take on data challenges, and have fun.

The hub and live streaming location for Florence Nightingale Day 2018 will be Laber Labs at North Carolina State University. There will also be Florence Nightingale Day events in Columbus, Ohio—organized by CWS President Shili Lin and CWS Executive Director Jessica Kohlschmidt—and in Athens, Georgia, hosted by ASA K–12 Statistical Ambassador Christine Franklin, ASA/NCTM Joint Committee Chair Kaycie Maddox, and CWS President-elect Nicole Lazar. Visit the Florence Nightingale Day website to learn more.

Opportunities for Involvement

The ASA and CWS plan to make Florence Nightingale Day an annual, world-wide event. Sign up to learn more and receive updates. Chapter members can also start planning to get involved in next year’s event by making connections with local schools and classrooms. Host a local event and visit a classroom to discuss careers in statistics or engage with students in a statistical problem-solving activity. You can also reach out to teachers and schools during the school year with the following activities:

• Share ThisIsStatistics videos and statistics resources with a local teacher or offer to go in to discuss careers in statistics during a career day event
• Mentor a class participating in the ThisIsStatistics fall or spring data challenge for high-school and undergraduate students
• Assist a class participating in What’s Going On in This Graph?, a free, weekly online feature of the ASA and New York Times Learning Network
• Encourage a class to participate in Census at School – US, a free international classroom project that engages students in grades 4–12 in statistical problem solving using their own real data
• Mentor a class involved in the ASA Data Visualization Poster Competition for grades K–12 or the ASA Project Competition (written report) for grades 7–12
• Share the Stats+Stories Podcast or ASA K–12 Education Webinars
• Mentor a class participating in the International Mathematical Contest in Modeling for high-school and undergraduate students. The ASA offers the ASA Data Insights Award for this competition.
• Share the House of Statistics website with a student or teacher
• Encourage a teacher to use or submit K–12 statistics education lesson plans to Statistics Teacher and STEW
• Write an article or lesson plan for Statistics Teacher
• Share the biography of Florence Nightingale and other distinguished statisticians posted on ASA’s Statisticians in History page
• Share the ASA Statistical Significance pieces that help document the many important contributions statisticians have made
• Encourage a teacher to sign up for the free one-year trial ASA K–12 teacher membership
• Connect a teacher with their local ASA chapter
• Encourage your chapter to send a teacher to the Meeting Within a Meeting (MWM) Statistics Workshop for Math and Science Teachers and/or the Beyond AP Statistics (BAPS) Workshop
• Encourage a classroom to participate in April Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month activities
• Share free ASA K–12 statistics education resources
• Encourage statistics students and student chapters to engage in outreach activities in K–12 classrooms

Other ideas and resources for reaching out to K–12 teachers and students are available on the ASA website. Need ideas? Start small by helping a class engage with the Florence Nightingale Day live streaming events.

Part of the ASA mission is to enhance statistics education at all levels. We hope you consider engaging in your community and sharing statistics education and career resources, whether on Florence Nightingale Day or other days throughout the school year. For questions or ideas, contact Donna LaLonde, ASA director of strategic initiatives and outreach or Rebecca Nichols, ASA director of education.