In a study of urban and rural educational outcomes, researchers found notable differences in student performance across various regions. In urban environments, students had access to a wider array of resources, including technology, libraries, and extracurricular activities. Conversely, rural students faced challenges such as limited access to advanced coursework and fewer specialized educators. However, the study revealed that rural students performed better on standardized math tests than their urban counterparts. This unexpected result led researchers to hypothesize that smaller class sizes in rural schools might allow for more personalized instruction, which could be beneficial for learning complex subjects like mathematics.
Which finding, if true, would most directly challenge the researchers’ hypothesis about the performance of rural students on standardized math tests?