INTRODUCTION: THE FIVE-STEP PROGRAM

The Basics

Sometime, probably last spring, you signed up for AP Statistics. Now you are looking through a book that promises to help you achieve the highest grade in AP Statistics: a 5. Your in-class experiences are all-important in helping you toward this goal but are often not sufficient by themselves. In statistical terms, we would say that there is strong evidence that specific preparation for the AP exam beyond the classroom results in significantly improved performance on the exam. If that last sentence makes sense to you, you should probably buy this book. If it didn’t make sense, you should definitely buy this book.

Introducing the Five-Step Preparation Program

This book is organized as a five-step program to prepare you for success on the exam. These steps are designed to provide you with the skills and strategies vital to the exam and the practice that can lead you to that perfect 5. Each of the five steps will provide you with the opportunity to get closer and closer to that level of success. Here are the five steps.

Step 1: Set Up Your Study Program

In this step you will read an overview of the AP Statistics exam (Chapter 1). Included in this overview are: an outline of the topics included in the course; the percentage of the exam that you can expect to cover each topic; the format of the exam; how grades on the exam are determined; the calculator policy for Statistics; and what you need to bring to the exam. You will also learn about a process to help determine which type of exam preparation you want to commit yourself to (Chapter 2):

1.   Full School Year: September through mid-May

2.   One Semester: January through mid-May

3.   Basic Training: Six weeks prior to the exam

Step 2: Determine Your Test Readiness

In this step you will take a diagnostic exam in statistics (Chapter 3). This pretest should give you an idea of how prepared you are to take both of the Practice Tests in Step 5 as you prepare for the real exam. The Diagnostic Exam covers the material on the AP exam, but the questions are more basic. Solutions to the exam are given, as well as suggestions for how to use your results to determine your level of readiness. You should go through the Diagnostic Exam and the given solutions step-by-step and question-by-question to build your confidence level.

Step 3: Develop Strategies for Success

In this step, you’ll learn strategies that will help you do your best on the exam (Chapter 4). These cover general strategies for success as well as more specific tips and strategies for both the multiple-choice and free-response sections of the exam. Many of these are drawn from our many years of experience as graders for the AP exam; others are the collected wisdom of people involved in the development and grading of the exam.

Step 4: Review the Knowledge You Need to Score High

This step represents the major part, at least in length, of this book. You will review the statistical content you need to know for the exam. Step 4 includes Chapters 5–14 and provides a comprehensive review of statistics as well as sample questions relative to the topics covered in each chapter. If you thoroughly review this material, you will have studied all that is tested on the exam and hence have increased your chances of earning a 5. A combination of good effort all year long in your class and the review provided in these chapters should prepare you to do well.

Step 5: Build Your Test-Taking Confidence

In this step you’ll complete your preparation by testing yourself on practice exams. There are two complete sample exams in Step 5 as well as complete solutions to each exam. These exams mirror the AP exam (although they are not reproduced questions from the actual exam) in content and difficulty.

Finally, at the back of this book you’ll find additional resources to aid your preparation:

•   A summary of formulas related to the AP Statistics exam

•   A set of tables needed on the exam

•   A brief bibliography

•   A short list of websites that might be helpful

•   A glossary of terms related to the AP Statistics exam.

The Graphics Used in This Book

To emphasize particular skills and strategies, we use several icons throughout this book. An icon in the margin will alert you to pay particular attention to the accompanying text. We use four icons:

This icon indicates a very important concept that you should not pass over.

This icon highlights a strategy that you might want to try.

This icon alerts you to a tip that you might find useful.

This icon indicates a tip that will help you with your calculator.

Boldfaced words indicate terms included in the glossary at the end of this book.