Introduction to Statistics

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Course option: Live

Grades: 10th– 12th (15+) | Successful completion of Algebra 1, Geometry and Algebra 2

Course dates: August 17, 2026 to May 7, 2027

Course length: Traditional, full year

Live Sessions - attendance required: Every other Wednesday | 12-1:15 p.m. Eastern

Course size: 15 students

Instructor: Ashley Porter

Cost:

Tuition: $700
Digital website access: $55 (includes course eBook)

More about Ashley Porter

Ashley Porter is a graduate of North Carolina State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics and two minors--in Statistics and Environmental Science--all in under four years. She has taught/tutored topics of Algebra 1 through Statistics for a decade.

For as long as she can remember, mathematics and its relationship to daily life have fascinated her. Throughout high school and college, her amazing teachers helped nurture a love for mathematics and its unique language. Her passion for numbers grew exponentially with each new concept learned. Originally attending NC State in hopes of pursuing a Civil Engineering degree, Ashley switched to Applied Mathematics and Statistics in her sophomore year, as she quickly found a deeper passion for abstract topics--where two multiplied by two no longer equaled four.

Before college, she took every math class her high school offered, while also tutoring her peers in a variety of math topics. During her sophomore and junior years at NC State, she was a Teaching Assistant for Calculus 2. Her experience tutoring in both high school and college kindled a passion for teaching. Her goal is to provide a positive learning environment, preserving the importance of mathematics while empowering students to unlock the ability to see it in a whole new way. Ashley is committed to helping students develop a growth mindset as they tackle and learn difficult topics in math. Her sincere hope is to help others increase their love of math through fun and optimism.

Some of her favorite math topics include geometry, abstract algebra, logic, and statistics. In addition to teaching high school math at Blue Tent, Ashley owns an online tutoring company named Zooming Through Math, and previously taught mathematics in a private school in Clayton, North Carolina.

Ashley and her husband of 9 years live in a small town just south of Raleigh with their teenage German exchange student daughter. She loves to travel, even taking a 5-week cross-country road trip with her husband in April 2024 to visit 12 National Parks. She also loves playing board games, hosting friends, doing Pilates, taking walks, journaling, and is actively involved in her church and foster care community. But, when you ask her what her favorite thing to do is, she will say “teaching math”. 😉

Feedback on Ashley Porter

Required

Your digital website access ($55) purchased through Blue Tent includes:
- eBook of Statistics and Probability with Applications (5th edition, 2025) by Daren Starnes, Josh Taber, and Luke Wilcox
  - This is an easy-to-read, fun statistics book written by Daren Starnes, Josh Tabor and Luke Wilcox. Well-known for explaining concepts in a clear manner and for helping students grasp statistical concepts, this text was written by well-known statistics teachers in the Statistics world. The activities in the class used from MathMedic are perfectly aligned with the textbook to keep content easy to follow.
Other requirements
- Calculator-graphing
- Zoom - a free teleconferencing application
- A free phone scanning app such as CamScanner or Adobe Scan
- Technical resources (required for live sessions)
  - A reliable internet connection
  - A computer with a web cam
  - A working microphone (computer microphone will work)
Recommended
- Earbuds or a headset with a microphone (a built-in computer mic will work if needed)

Course Details

Our live, online Introduction to Statistics course with Honors Option is for high school homeschoolers offered as a full-year live class. This course is designed for students who want a foundation in Statistics before college but are not interested in taking AP Statistics. Statistics is one of the most widely applicable math classes across multiple college disciplines, and it teaches students to teach more broadly about how information is presented in our world today.

Students will explore major themes of statistics such as data collection, experimental design, probability, and testing statistical claims through inference procedures throughout the class. They will also work through teacher-recorded instructional lessons and practice problems aligned with the most updated Intro to Statistics book created by well-known writers in the Statistics world. Students will use this book and their online classroom to learn how statistics apply to the everyday world around them and apply statistics to their future career.

Students will complete each week with fun, real-world activities that relate statistics to the real world around students like:

How many shoes are in our closet compared to our teachers
Whether someone is truly an 80% free throw shooter
Is Skittles telling the truth on the percentage of skittles that are green in their packages (Mrs. Ashley’s favorite flavor!)
And more!

Live session: Students meet live with their instructor and classmates for 75 minutes every other week. These live sessions provide a review of topics found in the weekly lessons, additional examples offered by the instructor for practice and small-group collaboration, and plenty of time to ask questions. Weekly due dates and detailed feedback on all assignments from the instructor will keep students on pace to prepare for chapter tests throughout the class.

Format

Students share an interactive online classroom and meet live on Zoom.
Students are expected to keep their webcams on and actively participate in class.
Live Study Hall (optional): Thursday, 12-1:30 p.m. Eastern
- The instructor will offer a study hall for both asynchronous and self-paced students. The study hall can be utilized in two ways:
  - Drop in. Students can drop in to a Zoom study hall at any time for a quick question.
  - Homework time. They can log in to a Zoom study hall--with microphones muted and video on or off--to work on their math homework and then unmute to get immediate help when questions arise.
Average weekly time estimate including live class: 6-8hours
All Blue Tent live math classes are NCAA approved.
See our FAQ page for:
- age/grade guidelines, prerequisites, and class fit recommendations
- a complete list of days, times, and breaks
- a list of CA charter schools where this course is a-g approved

Foundational elements

All classes include recorded teaching videos that students have flexibility to complete throughout the week. The course also includes periodic chapter reviews where students and the instructor will collaborate to prepare students for chapter tests.

In their online classroom, Intro to Statistic students might see some of the following:

Short instructional videos demonstrating the use of statistics in the real world
Supplemental lecture videos to help formalize ideas that are being discovered through the activities
Homework problems that build on concepts students learn in assigned activities
Activities covering specific learning topics that are both aligned with sections of the book, and designed to cover statistical standards
Short checkpoint quizzes to test understanding of terms and concepts

Course Goals

Students will:

Learn to select statistical methods for collecting and/or analyzing data for statistical inference
Learn to use numerical calculations to describe variations and trends among data
Describe trends, associations and relationships in data using graphs such as scatterplots, line graphs, boxplots, histograms and more
Explore random phenomena using probability and simulation
Develop how to argue or justify a conclusion from evidence using data, definitions and statistical inference