Descriptive Statistics 1.3

Today we used Excel to examine a set of 8th grade reading statistics.  The reading scores were broken down by state, sex, and race.  We installed an Excel Data Analysis Toolpak to our spreadsheet in order to more efficiently calculate various statistics that included range, min, max, standard deviation and mean.  In our sample, the girls had a higher reading average score than the boys.  Since the standard error was so low, it is safe to assume that the females are reading better than the males. It is possible that there is potential gender influence in our reading performance.

Virginia ranked 24th, a little above the national average (266.5) with a score of 267.6.  There were 28 states (including DC) listed below us.  Curiously, The DoD schools ranked 2nd in the nation in their reading results.  One would have to assume that the students in those schools have representatives from each state.  Why would the DoD schools be so far above the average?  That would be a question the might prompt further research  Click on the chart to see the cumulative data

We need to see what the DoD is doing right!

This assignment most closely relates to ISTE standard 5-Engage in professional growth and leadership.  This lesson allowed us to evaluate statistics but even more importantly allowed the the opportunity to ask critical questions that might include further study