Claims

Using observed mean test scores in place of latent means understates between-school variation but is otherwise unlikely to mislead

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r? · q2
Currency · newest study 2007 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2010: tool and model accuracy changes quickly

Subclaims

Reading the evidence codes

q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.

This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.

q2 i? In most contexts, substituting observed mean test scores for latent means understates the degree of between-school variation in average achievement but is unlikely to lead to misleading conclusions. → Melissa Clark 2007

Evidence

Melissa Clark 2007

Melissa Clark, Jesse Rothstein, Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach. (2007). Selection Bias in College Admissions Test Scores. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University, Education Research Section. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/selection-bias-in-college-admissions-test-scores

q2 · i? · causal · r?

The authors' implication drawn from the Illinois-based selection estimates: observed means "understates the degree of between-school variation" yet is "otherwise unlikely to lead to misleading conclusions" in most contexts.

"in most contexts the use of observed mean test scores in place of latent means understates the degree of between-school variation in average achievement but is otherwise unlikely to lead to misleading conclusions"

Discussion

Page metadata
Field Value
type claim
id observed-means-understate-between-school-variation
title Using observed mean test scores in place of latent means understates between-school variation but is otherwise unlikely to mislead
description Using observed mean test scores in place of latent means understates between-school variation but is otherwise unlikely to mislead
status review
evidence_strength moderate
newest_evidence 2007
recheck_by 2010
generated by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-09
trust unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources 1 — melissa-clark-2007

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