A large school district introduces a new reading program into one-half of its first-grade classrooms. Three years later, the reading scores of the 10,000 children in the new program average 3 points higher on a 100-point test than the scores of the 10,000 children who did not get the program. Although 3 points is statistically significant, the problem with saying that the program was a great success is that ____.
A) the samples are too small to assess clinical significance
B) the reading test is probably not reliable
C) three points on the reading score is probably not clinically significant
D) there was no control group

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The issue with claiming the program was a great success based on a 3-point difference is that, despite statistical significance, such a small difference may not translate into a meaningful or noticeable improvement in real-world reading abilities, hence not clinically significant.

A Large School District Introduces a New Reading Program into One-Half