The Lake Wobegon Effect Reversed: Commentary on “The Gese// Assessment: Psychometric Properties”

By now the “Lake Wobegon Effect” has become famous in public education. Taken from a description of Garrison Keillor’s mythical community, “where the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and all of the children are above average,” it has become a watchword for how tests can be used to distort achievement. In 1988, John Cannell, a West Virginia pediatrician, became alarmed that many of the children in his practice who were not doing well in school were reported to be performing “at an average level” on state-administered standardized tests. Cannel1 undertook a national investigation of these tests. To his shock and dismay, he found that all states reporting statewide test scores ranked their children above the national average. Thus, the phrase, “Lake Wobegon Effect.” The problems uncovered by Cannell, and later largely confirmed by more systematic research, are brought to mind in this context. However, in the present situation, Walker reports a reverse Lake Wobegon effect: rather than finding that all children are above average, this study finds that children’s average performance on the Gesell Developmental Assessment (GDA) fell below chronological age expectations. The discrepancy ranged from 2 months at age 4 to nearly 7 months by age 6. Similarly, the average Grade Recommendations fell below those expected for the children’s chronological ages. Findings of such magnitude and consistency would normally suggest that the assessment-the GDA in this case-is in need of recalibration, since in a representative sample it is unlikely that so many of the children would be delayed. However, Walker concludes that the problem lies within the children rather than the test. Lichtenstein (1990), reported similar findings for the full Gesell School Readiness Screening Test (GSRST), of which the