School administrator: the number of fourteen year olds in britain who are considered "gifted" – that is who score higher than 90% of their peers on the mandatory secondary school entrance exam (mseee) – has increased steadily over the past decade.
if the school administrator’s findings are correct, which of the following can be concluded on the basis of those findings?
(a) there has been at least some improvement in british education over the past decade.
(b) the number of british fourteen year olds who are not considered gifted has decreased over the past decade.
(c) the number of british fourteen year olds taking the mseee has increased over the past decade.
(d) preparation for the mseee has improved in british schools over the past decade.
(e) the percentage of british fourteen year olds who are considered gifted has increased as a percentage of the total population.

These three statements can be concluded on the basis of the findings in the question:

A) There has been at least some improvement in British education over the past decade. - A fourteen year old has had on average, at least seven years of education under the British system, therefore, a good score in the MSEEE can be attributed to both formal education, and innate ability.

(B) The number of British fourteen year olds who are not considered gifted has decreased over the past decade. - This statement is true because of logical necessity. If there is a population (fourteen year old british students who have taken the MSEE), and two variables (gifted and non-gifted), the increase in the amount of the population subjetcs who display one of the two variables necessarily results in the decrease in the amount of the population subjects who display the second variable.

(D) Preparation for the MSEEE has improved in British schools over the past decade. - A good preparation can vastly improved the results in the test. Students can be taught the best strategies and tactics to take the exam.

The other two statements on the other hand, cannot be safely concluded. We do not have enough information to determine the percentaje of gifted students over the total population, or to determine whether the quanitity MSEE takers has increased or not.

answer; clelia mosher;