PrepTest 137, Section 2, Question 17
Educator: Some experimental educational programs, based on the(44 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(7 more words not shown)
- ANot all small(7 more words not shown)
- BMost of the(10 more words not shown)
- CSurveys show that(7 more words not shown)
- DThe cost of(8 more words not shown)
- ESome children who(11 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Teaching children to read or do basic math at home sounds helpful. But are these programs the reason their participants perform above average in school?
Perhaps the participating families tend to have higher incomes. Their children might have better nutrition or attend better schools. Those differences could explain stronger performance even if the experimental program added little. We should accept the reported performance and question the cause assigned to it.
What we’re looking for
The educator also wants to expand the programs. That raises another question: will the good results carry over to new participants? For a weakener, I'd look for a relevant difference that undermines the claim of success or the expectation that expanding the program will reproduce it. My initial guesses concern family resources and schools; the answer could reveal another difference.
Working the answers
- A
Enjoying the lessons isn't the same as benefiting from them. A child might dislike being taught by a parent and still learn to read or do math more effectively. Without a connection to educational results, the lack of enjoyment doesn't undermine the evidence offered for the program's success.
- BCorrect
Most participating parents already have experience as educators. That could help explain why their children do well, independently of what the program teaches the parents. It also gives us a reason to question expansion: new participants may not bring that same teaching experience.
This isn't the income or school-quality explanation I first considered. It focuses on who the participating parents already are. Good results among experienced educators don't establish equally good results when the program expands to parents without that background. We don't have to claim those parents cannot teach their children; the point is that the existing results may not carry over.
- C
Parental approval doesn't establish educational effectiveness. People might enthusiastically support a program that makes little difference, or dislike one that works. This tells us the proposal is popular, not that the educator has correctly explained the results or predicted successful expansion.
- D
Unknown cost isn't the same as excessive cost. Expense could matter to the recommendation, but the answer doesn't tell us whether expansion would be cheap or prohibitively expensive. It leaves the issue unresolved rather than giving us a specific reason the proposal is unsound.
- E
The program doesn't have to be the only path to strong school performance to be useful. Some nonparticipants could excel while participants still improve because of the program. Those successful nonparticipants might even do better with it. E doesn't establish that the program fails to help the children who participate.
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