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Letter to the Editor: Query Regarding Bein et al. 2009

Article on Geographic Skills TestingJohn Knox

a

a University of Georgia , Athens, GA

Published online: 12 Jan 2010.

To cite this article: John Knox (2009) Letter to the Editor: Query Regarding Bein et al. 2009 Article on Geographic SkillsTesting, Journal of Geography, 108:6, 271-271, DOI: 10.1080/00221340903488529

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00221340903488529

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L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R

Letter to the Editor: Query Regarding Bein et al. 2009 Article

on Geographic Skills Testing

To the Editor of  Journal of Geography:I read with great interest the article “Fifteen Year Follow-Up Geography Skills Test Administered in

Indiana, 1987 and 2002” by Bein et al. in the January–February 2009 issue of  Journal of Geography. The article

is a valuable analysis of the important subject of geography literacy.I was puzzled, however, by some of the aggregate statistics contained in Table 1 of Bein  et al.’s article.

The total number of students surveyed in 2002 is listed in the table and in the introduction of the article as2,278. However, the sum of all students at the twenty participating institutions in 2002 itemized in Table 1is only 2,067. (The sum of students at the itemized institutions for 1987 agrees with the total listed at the

 bottom of the table.) The total of 2,067 also agrees with the sum of the number of students surveyed in 2002at public and private institutions, as discussed later in the body of the article (Bein  et al., p. 32).

More importantly, while the 2002 average percentage score listed at the bottom of Table 1 and repeatedlyin the article is 62.4 percent, the average score based on summing and averaging the individual institutions’data in Table 1 is much lower: 46.35 percent. In fact, no institution listed in Table 1 scored above 58.4 percentin 2002. (The summing and averaging of the 1987 data, in contrast, yields the same result as the averagelisted at the bottom of the table.) If the 2002 average is actually 46.35 percent instead of 62.4 percent, theconclusions of the article would be impacted—because it would indicate a sizable decrease in geographyliteracy from 1987, when the average percentage score was 64.5 percent.

I encourage the authors to respond in order to clear up any confusion or errors on my part, or on the partof other readers. Again, I thank them for their efforts in this important study.

Sincerely, John KnoxAssistant Professor of GeographyUniversity of GeorgiaAthens, GA

 johnknox@uga.edu

 Journal of Geography 108: 271C2009 National Council for Geographic Education   271