Viewing test scores from one of three CSV files
If you see a whole bunch of if/else statements with the only difference being some function, take advantage of the fact that functions are first class objects in python. For instance, you could create a dictionary that maps your sort options to sorting functions; while you're at it, explore the built ins (such as operator) as well:

from operator import itemgetter

sort_options = {
    # itemgetter(0) is equivalent to lambda x: x[0]
    # &gt;&gt;&gt; x = [1, 2, 3]
    # &gt;&gt;&gt; f = itemgetter(0)
    # &gt;&gt;&gt; g = itemgetter(1)
    # &gt;&gt;&gt; f(x)
    # 1
    # &gt;&gt;&gt; g(x)
    # 2
    # sort_option: (key_of_sort, your_word, sort_in_reverse?, your_field)
    'alphabetical': (itemgetter(0), "- Highest Score on test:", False, 5),
    'average': (itemgetter(4), "- Average Score", True, 4),
    'highest': (itemgetter(5), "- Highest Score on test:", True, 5),
}

def custom_sort(data, sort):
    fn, word, rev, field = sort_options[sort]
    sorted_ = sorted(data, key=fn, reverse=rev)
    return word, sorted_, field

word, sorted_, field = custom_sort(data, sort)