CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-ID.A

MathGrades 9–12Interpreting Categorical and Quantitative Data

The standard

Summarize, represent, and interpret data on a single count or measurement variable

Common Core State Standards for Mathematics · High School — Statistics and Probability

What this standard means

Students need to take one variable, such as test scores, heights, wait times, or number of pets, and make sense of it. They should choose a useful display, describe shape, center, and spread, and use numbers like mean, median, range, interquartile range, or standard deviation when they fit the data.

Mastery looks like matching the display and summary to the situation, then explaining what the data says in context. Students often mix up mean and median, ignore outliers, describe graphs too vaguely, or calculate statistics without saying what they mean.

Ways to teach it

  • Hands-on: Give pairs 30 sticky-note measurements of paper airplane flight distances, then have them build a dot plot and summarize center and spread.
  • Prompt: Which better describes this data set, mean or median, and what evidence from the graph supports your choice?
  • Quick assessment: Show one histogram and ask students to write one sentence each about shape, center, spread, and possible outliers.
  • Real-world connection: Use local weather highs from the past month and ask students to decide what a typical day felt like.

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Related standards

Standard text verified against corestandards.org on July 10, 2026.

Page updated July 10, 2026.

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