Critics of a School's Special Education Program Observe That Students

question 33

Multiple Choice

Critics of a school's special education program observe that students with the lowest intelligence scores in the first grade still have the lowest intelligence scores in the twelfth grade, despite receiving substantial remedial and individualized educational experiences. The critics argue that the school should not spend money on this obviously ineffective program. What, if any, is the flaw in their argument?

• A)Absolute intelligence scores obtained a decade apart cannot be meaningfully compared.
• B)The sample size is too small; special education programs have been shown to produce substantial improvements in relative intelligence on the nationwide level.
• C)The critics are using a relative measure; the absolute level of intelligence among these students could have improved.
• D)There is no flaw in the argument.

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Definitions:

Treatment

In experimental design, a condition applied to a group of subjects to observe its effect relative to a control group not receiving the treatment.

One-Way ANOVA

A statistical test used to determine if there are any statistically significant differences between the means of three or more independent (unrelated) groups.

Simple Analysis

A straightforward examination or investigation into a subject or data set to derive basic insights or conclusions.