Correlation does not imply causation
I had a conversation today with a friend who recently took a job working for a terrific non-profit organization doing education reform. She’s proud of her work, but acknowledges some inherent limitations. Everyone wants data to prove their program works, but when you’re dealing with human beings, how are you supposed to quantify personal growth?
She said, “It’s close to impossible to provide the opportunities that some of these programs do without receiving support from the government and other similar bureaucracies, and their support is reliant on this sort of cold hard data.”
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This exchange reminded me of an article I read back in the fall. Here’s an excerpt, from the Associated Press:
“For many years, diversity in higher education has been measured by how many low-income students and
