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."

[xrp]

I'm confused. What's an 'African-American'?

[MHT]

That is, the NY Times paper itself had the hyphen missing from their run of this article. Typical NYT!

[ThinkDifferent]

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

I'm not buying that. If "Tom's job requires him to travel" is wrong, what's the correct form? There's no ambiguity with the pronoun.

[MHT]

What would have been a proper way to express the thought?

[JOE6PAK]

Hey JOE, whadya know?

[Freedom2specul8]

" in this case Morrison's name is used as an adjective."

I don't understand how a person's name can be used as an adjective. I don't recall studying that when *I* was in college. ;-)

Let me think a second....

Oh hey, I can think of one.

That dude is a clymer! :)

[yarddog]

That plug for a living but somewhat controversial person is clearly improper.

I would feel the same way if there was a plug for Ronald Reagan who I think is a really great man, but a test is not the place for an editorial opinion.

[netmilsmom]

Can anyone tell I did time in a Comminity then into Urban college?
It took all these people explaining it for me to get it....

[ZinGirl]

fer sure....we're purty much talkin' publik skool, anyhoo....

(I was more torqued by having a sentence constructed that makes sure we understand that African-Americans have been through injustice galore!....no matter how subconscious the method....)

[daylate-dollarshort]

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

I believe the correct construction should be:

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

[ZinGirl]

If "Tom's job requires him to travel" is wrong, what's the correct form?

Clearly, Tom should be on welfare...thus sparing us this confusion.

[Desecrated]

Isn't this question racially biased? It's saying black folks need the precondition of injustice to be a "genius."

Is there anyone I can sue?

[RightWhale]

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

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

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. However, in spite of it's outstanding adequacies, the sentence is a poor item for a standardized test because the metaphor is reversed.

[John Valentine]

"Toni Morrison" is a proper noun, and even if used to indicate the possessor of "genius" (a debatable proposition in my opnion, based on a reading of some of her writing), "Toni Morrison" remains a proper noun and can properly be the subject of a pronoun reference, even given the particular structure of this sentence.

Let's look at this one: "Bill's coat is red." Any problem? No even to grammar mavens, this is OK, because the referent of "red" is "coat", a noun. How about this: "Bill's coat was given to him by his grandmother." Fine, because Bill is still Bill, even when his name is used in the possessive, and the referent of "him" and "his", Bill, is clearly and unambiguously a thing, a person called Bill. Bill is not an adjective.

The grammar maven that found this sentence structure to be improper needs a lesson himself. He's wrong on the grammar issue, and he's wrong on the issue of common sense. He would be well advised to give up teaching and go into farming, assembly line work, or some other field where he will come into contact with the real world.

[zencycler]

create novels that arise from...the injustices African-Americans have endured

At first read, I thought the error was that the creation of a novel does not arise from an event, but from ideas and interpretations of the author inspired by that event.

My correction would be to delete the word create and insert "develop ideas for":

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

[Lil'freeper]

I'm dismayed that anger, angst, and self-pity are considered 'genius'.

[Mark Felton]

"Tom's job requires him to travel"

better? = "Tom's job requires that he travel"

[So Cal Rocket]

Furthermore, is it a prerequisite to be a genius to be able to write about these injustices?

[ZinGirl]

Right on Right Whale.....and YOU are in charge of explaining this to the Keegan doofus in the article. (You are chosen because you seem so enlightened!)