Q4 - Although smaller class sizes are popular

[Laura Damone]

Question Type:
Necessary Assumption

Stimulus Breakdown:
Conclusion: It would be better to spend public funds on recruiting and retaining better teachers than on reducing class size.

Evidence: Reducing class size only leads to slight improvements in student performance. School finances are limited.


Answer Anticipation:
This argument has a comparative conclusion: Better to spend on teachers than on reducing class size. But it doesn't have any comparative premises! We're told that reducing class size has a small positive impact on student performance, but we don't know anything about what impact better teachers have. This argument therefore assumes that teachers would have a bigger impact than class size reduction.

Correct answer:
B

Answer choice analysis:
(A) Would this strengthen our argument? Sure. If reducing class size is super expensive, it's probably better to invest our limited funds elsewhere. But is it necessary to assume this? No way. Just use the negation test: Our argument still works if reducing class size isn't super expensive, as long as getting and keeping better teachers is comparable in price and more effective. Also, "extremely expensive"? That's an extreme degree if I ever saw one, and that's a big red flag for this question type.

(B) Bingo. A perfect match for our prediction. And, if you didn't make a prediction, this one easily passes the negation test. If, dollar for dollar, getting and keeping better teachers doesn't yield a larger improvement in student performance, this whole argument collapses.

(C) Our conclusion is that it's better to fund hiring and retention. But C tells us that it's easier to get approval for class size reduction. There's no way that needs to be true in order to prove the conclusion.

(D) Tempting! Unlike A and C, D deals with the right concepts. However, this weakens the argument instead of strengthening it, and a necessary assumption must strengthen the argument.

(E) If anything, E goes against our conclusion, so it's definitely not something our argument assumes.

Takeaway/Pattern:
If you want to conclude that one thing is better than another, you need evidence about both things being compared! If the argument doesn't give it to you, that's what's being assumed. Comparative arguments like these are quite predictable!

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