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Md. Teacher Finds Botched PSAT Question
WBALTV ^ | May 14, 2003 | WBAL

Posted on 05/15/2003 4:07:50 PM PDT by ZinGirl

Md. Teacher Finds Botched PSAT Question

Student Test Scores Increased Due To Erroneous Question

POSTED: 9:00 p.m. EDT May 14, 2003

The nation's largest testing company has increased the PSAT scores of nearly 500,000 high school juniors after the company concluded it was wrong about the correct answer to a grammar question posed on the exam last October.

Students were asked if anything was grammatically wrong with the following sentence: "Toni Morrison's genius enables her to create novels that arise from and express the injustices African-Americans have endured."

The correct choice on the multiple choice exam was originally listed as "no error" by the Educational Testing Service of Princeton, N.J., which administers the PSAT and SAT for the College Board. The PSAT is aimed at helping juniors prepare for the SAT college entrance exam in their senior year.

Maryland high school journalism teacher Kevin Keegan spotted the botched question in late January.

He informed ETS that the sentence was incorrect because the pronoun in the sentence -- "her" -- was used improperly. Keegan said pronouns should only refer to nouns and in this case Morrison's name is used as an adjective.

The ETS said a committee of experts signed off on the question, which was posed on the exam given Oct. 15 to 1.8 million juniors.

In letters and telephone calls, Keegan persevered.

From experience, he knew that the loss of one or two points on the PSAT could disqualify a junior from becoming a National Merit commended student or a National Merit semifinalist. National Merit academic honors are determined by PSAT scores.

"I have taught dozens of kids over the years who have missed those two cutoffs by one point or one question," he said.

Based on a review by three experts, ETS this month informed Keegan and the students that the sentence would not be counted in the scoring. As a result, the scores of 480,000 students will rise.

Lee Jones, a College Board vice president, said the National Merit Scholarship Program has also agreed to adjust its limits.

"He was persistent in his point and we appreciate that," Jones said of Keegan. "And, he turned out to be correct."


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aseriesmistake; brainwashing; college; firstblackpresident; grammercops; highschool; hughoversight; indoctrination; littleredschoolhouse; mccarthywasright; pc; politicallycorrect; psat; reeducation; sat; school; schools; stupidquestion; testing; tonimorrison
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To: ZinGirl
Interesting choice of sentences to "correct", anyway. I'm sure I'm being sensitive....but do we always have to have an agenda? Could they NOT have formed a sentence without throwing in the race card?

We have homeschooled our kids for eleven years, but they do take the same standardized tests that many public and private school students do - ITBS, PSAT, SAT... They tell me that they get very frustrated with the politically correct agenda of many of the reading selections and questions. My daughter finally realized that she had to get into that mindset if she was going to get the score on the SAT that she needed (1450). When she did, she increased her verbal score by 110 points.

101 posted on 05/15/2003 5:08:23 PM PDT by aberaussie
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To: PeaceBeWithYou
good find.... but what the heck are we worried about, anyway? I'd wager most kids couldn't even READ the darn sentence....let alone get find a problem with it!
102 posted on 05/15/2003 5:10:56 PM PDT by ZinGirl
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To: PeaceBeWithYou
The question was thrown out because it had 2 potentially correct answers

How very postmodern of them. The idea of a single correct answer is of course a result of the phallocentric heteropatriarchal power structure, which denigrates (oops!) ambiguity and insists on a unique dominant grammar.

103 posted on 05/15/2003 5:12:23 PM PDT by Right Wing Professor
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To: walkingman
No...see post #31 for an example.
104 posted on 05/15/2003 5:13:00 PM PDT by daylate-dollarshort (http://www.strato.net/~cmranch)
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To: ZinGirl
Apart from the grammar, why are there "journalism" teachers in high school?
105 posted on 05/15/2003 5:13:31 PM PDT by Trailerpark Badass
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To: aberaussie
My sister has been homeschooling for about 6 years...oldest is in 7th grade....I wonder if he is catching on the PCness yet.

sad....

106 posted on 05/15/2003 5:14:25 PM PDT by ZinGirl
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To: Trailerpark Badass
To teach them to work at CNN?
107 posted on 05/15/2003 5:15:23 PM PDT by ZinGirl
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To: ZinGirl
The boxer with AIDS write books about black people??? My God, who'd of thunk it??? A little white boy from the East became a big bad boxer, caught AIDS, and is now a Black Activist...WOW!!!
108 posted on 05/15/2003 5:15:34 PM PDT by Porterville (Screw the grammar, full posting ahead.)
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To: ZinGirl
I can't help but brag about my homeschooled nephew who is in his 3rd or 4th year of Latin (he'll be 13 next month) and doing great.

Excellent! He'll find it useful for the rest of his life, often in completely unexpected circumstances. I started learning it so I could be an altar boy; then Vatican II did away with the Latin mass. With a start like that, how could I not become a conservative?

109 posted on 05/15/2003 5:16:09 PM PDT by Right Wing Professor
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To: ZinGirl
Toni Morrison is an proper noun. Toni Morrison's is an adjective!
110 posted on 05/15/2003 5:18:02 PM PDT by daylate-dollarshort (http://www.strato.net/~cmranch)
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To: ZinGirl

They spelt his name wrong on the test also it's "Tommy" not "Toni"

111 posted on 05/15/2003 5:18:29 PM PDT by Porterville (Screw the grammar, full posting ahead.)
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To: ZinGirl
The sentence is correct: no error.
112 posted on 05/15/2003 5:18:39 PM PDT by dasboot (Everything that should be up, is up.)
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To: Right Wing Professor
except it doesn't dangle.

It certainly seems to dangle. There is no context for what "her's" is referring to, according to the rules.

If the PSAT sentence is incorrect, then 'My computer enables me to post to the internet' is incorrect.

I fail to see how your sentence is like the example in the story. Please show me how yours is an example of theirs.

113 posted on 05/15/2003 5:19:26 PM PDT by krb (the statement on the other side of this tagline is false)
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To: ZinGirl
I am soooo glad I don't have to take those tests anymore...... I'd never pass.

If there are a mess of questions like that one on the PSATs these days, it's not a wonder that the overall scores of our kids is lower these days. That question is like a trick question. It has no business being on any test designed to determine a students capability to enter a univeristy.

No wonder our public schools are failing. The tests suck as measurement tools. And the teachers union is so powerful, the only recourse *hehe* is school choice and vouchers. Perhaps there they can teach kids how to ace the three Rs and let them 'fail' on a test question like this one. Who really cares if ANY kid got that question right or wrong? god!! Where is this heading?
114 posted on 05/15/2003 5:20:33 PM PDT by bart99
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To: bart99
the three Rs

I'm afraid one of the "Rs" these days is "Ritalin"...and another is "Race"

again...no wonder our public schools are failing.

115 posted on 05/15/2003 5:25:12 PM PDT by ZinGirl
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To: Porterville
:)
116 posted on 05/15/2003 5:25:52 PM PDT by ZinGirl
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To: krb
There is no context for what "her's" is referring to, according to the rules.

Toni Morrison, a perfectly valid noun, is the context.

Please show me how yours is an example of theirs.

Toni Morrison's | genius |enables | her |to ...

Nouns used as possessive | verb | objective pronoun | subsidiary clause

My | computer | enables | me | to...

Possessive pronoun | verb | objective pronoun | subsidiary clause

If you want an even closer match, replace it with 'RWP's computer enables him to...'

117 posted on 05/15/2003 5:28:36 PM PDT by Right Wing Professor
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To: ZinGirl
no wonder our public schools are failing.

No way! A recent survey showed that 86.1549% of all graduating seniors could put a condom on a banana.

118 posted on 05/15/2003 5:28:49 PM PDT by Drango (There are 10 kinds of people in this world. Those that understand binaries, and those that don't.)
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To: Drango
dude...you ARE a genius....again, I stand corrected.
119 posted on 05/15/2003 5:29:31 PM PDT by ZinGirl
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To: ZinGirl
Shame, isn't it? Doesn't matter..... the entire 'western' world, starting with France, will be Islamic soon enough..... Race will be a non-factor and ritalin-takers will be educated to become terrorists.
120 posted on 05/15/2003 5:30:37 PM PDT by bart99
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