CPE Assignment

            In the reading selection taken from the article; “The Generation Gap” the writer makes several claims. The claims when compared to the data presented in two graphs determine if the graphs support, partially supports and/or contradict the claim in the text.

            The first claim the writer makes states “Thirty years ago less than 40% of college graduating classes were compromised of women”, Looking at the line graph in Figure 1 titled: “University Degrees Conferred on Women in the United States 1974-2014 (projected).It shows that in 1980 32% of women graduated with masters and 42% of women graduated with bachelors, therefore the writers claim is partially supported the date in the graph.

            A second claim that writer makes is “Today, women earn an average of 60% of all bachelor’s degrees and 58% of all master’s degree”. Looking at Figure 1 which indicated that in 2010 women earnings is an average of 65% of all bachelor’s degree and 60% of all master’s degree. Therefore the writer’s claim contradicts the data in the graph.

            The writer’s third claim is as follow “As a result, boys are more than twice as likely as girls to be placed in a remedial education class”. Looking at the bar graph in Figure 2, titled: At-Risk Student Populations in the United States (2003). Looking at the bar graph, 7 million boys are placed in remedial classes while only 3 million girls are placed in remedial classes. Therefore, the date in the graph supports by what the writer’s claim.

            The fourth claim the writer had stated, “Boys’ reading and writing skills are a full 1 ½ years behind their female classmates’. Looking at the bar graph there is no data that supports the writer claims so as a result the data in the graph contradicts the writer’s claim.

            The writer’s fifth `claim states “In addition, they are four times as likely to be diagnosed with a learning disability”. Looking at figure 2, 8 million boys were diagnosed with a learning disability and only 2 million girls were diagnosed with a learning disability. Therefore the writer’s claim was supported by the data in the graph.

            The sixth claim the writer made states “It is not surprising, then that twice as many boys drop out of school”. Looking at figure 2, 3 million boys dropped out of school and a little over 1 million girls dropped out of school, making a difference of 2.8 (3 – 1.2 = 2.8). therefore the data in the graph supports the writer’s claim.