Bias toward Numbers in Judging Teaching
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In the U.S. people—yes, I include myself here—making decisions about important issues such as buying a home, picking a school for a five year-old or deciding on a college for a high school junior often give more weight to those features carrying numbers with them rather than qualitative features without numbers. Say, focusing on the square footage in the house vs. the feel of roominess. Or a teacher-student ratio in a kindergarten vs. sense of family that children and teacher communicate. From unemployment figures to batting averages and pass
