Research Commentary: Working at the Boundaries of Mathematics Education and Statistics Education Communities of Practice

Statistics education has begun to mature as a discipline distinct from mathematics education, creating new perspectives on the teaching and learning of statistics. This commentary emphasizes the importance of coordinating perspectives from statistics education and mathematics education through boundary interactions between the two communities of practice. I argue that such interactions are particularly vital in shared problem spaces related to the teaching and learning of measurement, variability, and contextualized problems. Collaborative work within these shared problem spaces can contribute to the vitality of each discipline. Neglect of the shared problem spaces may contribute to insularity and have negative consequences for research and school curricula. Challenges of working at the boundaries are considered, and strategies for overcoming the challenges are proposed.