Dan Dunne argues that drop-out prevention programs, no matter

The first thing to do here to identify, the subject in subordinate clause.Here, the subject is drop-out prevention programs - plural form, so it agrees with plural verb and takes plural pronoun.
A. its methodology, is an inappropriate means for motivating or educating troubled children (INCORRECT, because "its" methodology and "is". )
B. their methodology, is an inappropriate means for motivating or educating troubled children (INCORRECT, because of "is")
C. its methodologies, is an inappropriate means for motivating troubled children or educating them ((INCORRECT, because "its" methodology and "is". )
D. its methodology, are inappropriate means for motivating or educating troubled children (INCORRECT, because "its" methodology )
E. their methodologies, are inappropriate means for motivating or educating troubled children (CORRECT. Here both pronoun and verb agree with the subject)

The highlighted part requires a plural verb..., among the given options only (E) fits in perfectly, hence Answer must be (E)

Question Explanation:

The underlined portion of the sentence contains pronouns, so check for pronoun agreement errors. The underlined portion of the sentence also contains a singular verb, so check for subject-verb agreement errors. The singular possessive pronoun its refers to the plural noun programs, so the sentence contains a pronoun agreement error. The singular verb is refers to the plural subject programs, so the sentence contains a subject-verb agreement error. Eliminate A and look for any obvious repeaters. Choice B is an obvious repeater of the subject-verb agreement error because it also uses the singular is to refer to the plural programs. Eliminate choice B. Choice C is an obvious repeater of the pronoun agreement error because it also uses the singular pronoun its to refer to the plural noun programs. In addition, choice C is an obvious repeater of the subject-verb agreement error because it also uses the singular verb is to refer to the plural subject programs. Eliminate choice C. Choice D is an obvious repeater of the pronoun agreement error because it also uses the singular pronoun its to refer to the plural noun programs. Eliminate choice D. Now, evaluate the remaining answer choice individually looking for a reason to eliminate it.

Choice E corrects the original pronoun agreement error by replacing the singular its with the plural their, which agrees with programs. In addition, choice E corrects the original subject-verb agreement error by replacing the singular verb is with the plural verb are, which agrees with programs. Because choice E corrects the original errors and introduces no new errors, keep choice E.

Alternatively, if it is difficult to spot the grammar rule the sentence is testing, another strategy is to identify an error from the answers by looking for either a 2/3 split or differences among the answers. Because three of the answer choices begin with the pronoun its and two of the answer choices begin with the pronoun their, this is a reason to look for pronoun errors.

Choice A: No. The singular its cannot replace the plural programs. The singular is cannot pair with the plural programs. Pronoun Agreement; Subject-Verb agreement.

Choice B: No. The singular is cannot pair with the plural programs. Subject-Verb agreement.

Choice C: No. The singular its cannot replace the plural programs. The singular is cannot pair with the plural programs. Pronoun agreement; Subject-Verb agreement.

Choice D: No. The singular its cannot replace the plural programs. Pronoun Agreement.

Choice E: Correct.

The correct answer is choice E.

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