@jen10162007,
There missing high test scores could lose the school some federal aid and make the school look like it isn't giving children a good education.
There is an adverb meaning primarily
in that place: at that location. The personal pronoun
their is possessive and is often considered to be an adjective because it tells
Which one? Their test scores. A pronoun usually refers to a word in the sentence that it is in or a word in the previous sentence. It is obvious from the previous sentence that the "missing high test scores" is referring to the "honor students." They are the ones with the high scores that can benefit the school financially in the long run. So, the antecedent (the word the pronoun refers to) is
students, which is modified by the noun "honor" being used as an adjective.
CORRECT:
Their missing high test scores could lose the school some federal aid and make the school look like it isn't giving children a good education.
As for the first sentence...
Maybe these parents should have let their honors students read and explain the paperwork about testing to them.
Here, the antecedent for the pronoun
their is
parents. Whose honor students are they? The
parents. The antecedent for the pronoun
them is
parents. Who is
them (who are they?)? The students should read and explain the paperwork about testing to the
parents.