PrepTest 138, Section 4, Question 14
Editorial: A proposed new law would limit elementary(91 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AThe only schools(7 more words not shown)
- BTeachers generally devote(12 more words not shown)
- CReductions in class(11 more words not shown)
- DDegree of student(11 more words not shown)
- EParental support for(15 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Smaller classes could give each child more time with the teacher. I can see why parents expect that to help students engage with school. There might be practical questions about the cost of hiring more teachers or the quality of new hires, but the researchers give a more specific reason for doubt: average grades stayed the same.
My first question is how quickly grades should change. The class-size reductions were recent. More attention might improve students' interest or understanding before the change shows up in their grades. We aren't told that the study lasted only a week, but the possibility of a delay makes me reluctant to treat unchanged grades as decisive.
What we’re looking for
The assumption question asks what the researchers need in order to use their evidence this way. Look closely at what they measured and what they're challenging. They measured grades; the parents predicted engagement. Those aren't automatically the same. For unchanged grades to cast doubt on greater engagement, grades must be a reasonably good indicator of engagement. Otherwise, the children could be more involved in learning even while their average grades stayed unchanged.
Working the answers
- A
The size of a school isn't the same as the size of its classes. A small school could still provide evidence about what happens when classes become smaller. The researchers don't need to exclude every school that isn't large.
- B
More individual attention doesn't require exactly equal attention to every student. Teachers could spend different amounts of time with different children while still spending more time individually with students after the reduction. Equal treatment isn't the link between grades and engagement that the inference needs.
- C
A decrease in the number of teachers isn't required. With enrollment held constant, smaller classes would ordinarily require more classes and teachers. Enrollment or staffing could change for other reasons, but none of that makes a reduction in teachers necessary to the researchers' argument.
- DCorrect
The researchers use students' average grades to judge whether students became more engaged in learning. That move requires the two to track each other reasonably well. If engagement could change substantially without grades reflecting it, unchanged grades would not give the offered reason to doubt the parents' expectation. D supplies the needed connection between the measurement and the claim.
- E
Parents can have several reasons for supporting smaller classes. They might expect greater engagement and also value other benefits. The researchers' criticism of the engagement reasoning doesn't depend on it being the parents' only reason for supporting the law.
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