Which formula would Mrs. Michaud use to determine the average of scores recorded in column D?

To determine the average of scores recorded in column D, utilizing the AVERAGE function is the most appropriate choice. The AVERAGE function in spreadsheet software, such as Google Sheets or Excel, calculates the mean of a specified range of values. By specifying D:D, it indicates the entire column D, allowing the function to include all scores present in that column.

Using the AVERAGE function effectively compiles all numeric values in the specified range and divides the total sum of those values by the count of numeric entries. This provides Mrs. Michaud with an accurate representation of the average score, which is essential for evaluating overall performance.

The other options serve different purposes that do not yield the average score. For example, the SUM function adds all values together without providing an average, COUNT tallies the number of entries but does not sum them, and MEDIAN finds the middle value of a set, which is not the same as calculating the average. Thus, choosing the AVERAGE function is the correct approach to achieve the desired outcome.