There is a tendency
in the media to overuse the word “average” and misrepresent what it really
means.
Take, for example,
“average” test scores. As we all know, to get an average, you add up all the
scores and then divide by the total number of scores. It is often the case that
no individual score actually falls at the average.
An average isn’t a
median or midpoint. It doesn’t mean that half the scores fall above and below
that point. In fact, you could conceivably have a situation where ALL scores
fall ABOVE the average, except for one score that is so very low, it pulls down
the average.
This helps explain
the seeming paradox with test scores. For many years the average SAT scores
were down — but scores were up for every subgroup that took the test.
That included
Hispanics, Asians, blacks, whites, etc. — and scores were up for every academic
level represented — “A” students, “B” students, and “C” students.
If test scores rose
for every academic level, how could the overall average be down?
It is because far
more C students are now taking part. And even though scores rose for students
who are still learning English, far more of those students have also been
taking the test, too.
So when you disaggregate
the tests and look at every group that took them, you see a success story. But
when you aggregate the tests and look only at the overall average, the picture
is very different.
This is a critical
concept in assessing what needs to be “fixed” in our schools. Sadly, it is
always easier to deal with simple rhetoric than with complicated facts.
