Monday, December 16, 2013

Depends on What You Mean By "Predict"

Anne Trafton, MIT News Office:

These high-stakes tests have also been shown to predict students’ future educational attainment and adult employment and income.

This does not mean, in effect, "Show me a kid's test scores, and I can make a good prediction of his adult income." At best, it means "Show me a kid's test scores, and I can make a good prediction about how much more or less he or she might make compared to socio-economically comparable students with different test scores."

That's not nothing, but it is less than it seems on first gloss.

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