Educational research shows that students who attend schools with low faculty/student ratios perform better on standardized tests than students who attend schools with high ratios. Therefore, homeschooling is the best option because the student and parent can work one on one.

Which of the following, if true, most weakens this argument?


A Standardized test results for homeschooled students show that scores are highly related to the parent-teacher’s level of education.

B Standardized test results from larger schools that require teachers to have a Master’s degree are comparable to test results for students from smaller

C Studies show that homeschooled students struggle socially.

D Standardized test results for homeschooled students show the same range of scores as scores for students from large schools.

E Private schooling is prohibitively expensive for many families.

Testguide

The argument is that homeschooling is the best way for students to perform well on standardized tests because it has the lowest teacher to student ratio.

A is correct because it basically says that homeschooling is only good if the parent/teacher is high highly educated. So in some scenarios home schooling could actually be the worst choice
B, C, & E are incorrect because they are completely irrelevant and their is no proof that these will affect students scores.
D is incorrect because range is affected by outliers and is not reliable for comparing scores between schools.
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Why is D not an answer ? We are comparing the scores of students, then why are we choosing A over D?

I eliminated D because it talks about the 'Range'. What if the ranges in this case are better? This will not weaken the argument. Thats what I think. Please correct me if I am wrong
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Do What Your Heart Says....

While analysing an argument it is very important to understand what premise led to the conclusion. Here, the conclusion is: homeschooling is the best. Why? Because of smallest ratio of parent (teacher) and student. Note the causality: smaller ratio=better results. Considering this, let us look at the options:

A Standardized test results for homeschooled students show that scores are highly related to the parent-teacher’s level of education. This gives us another reason for good scores. That is, higher the education level=better the results. Weakens our causal relationship by some degree. Hold.

B Standardized test results from larger schools that require teachers to have a Master’s degree are comparable to test results for students from smaller. Okay, but we are not concerned about large schools with specific set of requirements for teachers. We are looking at schools and ratios in general and if there are/is any other reason for the test results. Also, we have no idea about the requirements of smaller school and if the levels of education of teachers has any influence on scores of tests. Incorrect.

C Studies show that homeschooled students struggle socially. Irrelevant. Incorrect.

D Standardized test results for homeschooled students show the same range of scores as scores for students from large schools. Do large schools necessarily mean bigger or smaller teacher-student ratios? No information on this part. We cannot assume this as well. Incorrect.

E Private schooling is prohibitively expensive for many families. Irrelevant. Incorrect.

Hence, A.