Md. Teacher Finds Botched PSAT Question

WBALTV ^ | May 14, 2003 | WBAL

[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."

[dasboot]

Professor,

I figure it like this: genius enables (this)... "her" is an object before the infinitive, and the entire segment after "her" is an infinitive phrase that is, in its entirety, the object of the transitive verb "enables".

There is no reference to the proper noun in the subject whatsoever.

[bart99]

Unfortunately a recent study found that only 2.834% of graduating seniors actually used condoms during sex. *shrug*

But they snacked on bananas afterwards *s*

[T. Buzzard Trueblood]

"Toni Morrison's genius enables her to create novels that arise from and express the injustices African-Americans have endured."

Barf, barf and triple barf. Forget the bad grammar-the content of this sentence is what really offends. And these people (the PSAT people) presume to sit in judgement on the intellectual worthiness of American youth?

FREEP THE PSATS!!!

[rabidralph]

I believe this is the correct version: Toni Morrison be a good noveler and chronicler of her peep's problems. Word.

[Willie Green]

The usage is correct. The pronoun reference is to a continuing subject in the essay and is not a reference to Toni Morrison's . On top of that, Toni Morrison's is not an adjective, it is a noun in the possessive case.

I agree. The word "her" is merely an objective case pronoun used as the direct object of the verb "enables". As a direct object, there is no requirment that it refer back to the subject of the sentence or its modifiers. In fact, if not taken in context of information not contained in the sentence, the word "her" could easily refer to a person other than Toni Morrison. Perhaps Toni Morrison's genius is enabling some other female to create novels, similar to a ghost-writer.

[TaxRelief]

Premise: The number 1 goal of public schools is to brain wash the children with the liberal agenda.

Conclusion: What better way to brainwash these young minds than to put them in the tender, loving arms of a journalism teacher. This true mentor will carefully explain the difference between "objective" news stories and "subjective" editorials. Unfortunately, most of the kids will fall for it, suffering permanent brain damage that will permanently prevent them from ever seeing bias in any "news" story they read throughout their adult lives.

[visualops]

bravo!

[RightWhale]

Yes, that would be the best interpretation assuming the sentence was written by someone with a practical knowledge of grammar.

[PistolPaknMama]

I was thinking the same thing. Every word fed to our young has an agenda.

[savedbygrace]

If I had to correct it (and I don't think it needs to be corrected) I would correct it this way:

"The genius of Toni Morrison enables her to create novels that arise from and express the injustices African-Americans have endured."

I don't think it needs to be corrected because "Morrison's" is possessive of "genius".

What if it were re-worded like this:

"Her genius enables Toni Morrison to create . . . ."

[liberalnot]

i saw this in the nyt print edition.

the real error is the social engineering that has toni morrison as a "genius".

[poppytpee]

The sentence is wrong, because there ain't no such critter as an African-American or hyphenated American of any kind.

So there!!!!

[liberalnot]

i did the same as i read it.

[John Valentine]

Your point is on the money, but I fear it would be lost on Mr. Kevin Keegan and other weak minded.

The part of this story that amazes (and scares) me is how easily this nitwit was able to sway the ETS over to his point of view.

[TaxRelief]

The part of this story that amazes (and scares) me is how easily this nitwit was able to sway the ETS over to his point of view.

Hmm...Is he good friend of Jayson Blair?

[John Valentine]

"Toni Morrison's" is NOT an adjective. It is a posessive noun.

It is an entirely appropriate referent for a personal pronoun.

And, as has been pointed out here, the referent for a pronoun need not even exist in the same sentence with the pronoun.

As: "Maggie is my sister. I love her."

Get real, please.

[boris]

I would guess that "Toni Morrison's genius enables her to create novels that arise from and express the injustices African-Americans have endured." Would have to be rendered as "Toni Morrison's genius enables it to create novels that arise from and express the injustices African-Americans have endured."

See, it's the 'genius' that has enabled...sounds much worse, tho.

[Willie Green]

Your point is on the money, but I fear it would be lost on Mr. Kevin Keegan and other weak minded.

My inherent distaste for diagramming sentences was only surpassed by my fear of the parochial school nuns who taught us. Forty years later, I'm sitting here wondering if I can still sue.

;^)

[savedbygrace]

Keegan said pronouns should only refer to nouns and in this case Morrison's name is used as an adjective.

I think this is an error. In that sentence, Morrison's name ("Toni Morrison's") is a possessive noun, not an adjective.

[savedbygrace]

I just posted the same thing, after making sure I was right by checking my Gregg's Reference Manual.

"Morrison's" is a possessive noun, not an adjective.