Example 1: Plagiarize the original text by copying portions of it word-for-word.
~ He found that the average “margin of error” of a New York City teacher was plus or minus 28 points.
Example 2: Plagiarize the original text by paraphrasing its structure too closely, without copying it word-for-word.
~The value-added scores also change between years. A teacher who receives a specific ranking one year is likely to get a different ranking the next year.
Example 3: Plagiarize the original text by paraphrasing its structure too closely, and include a citation. Even though you cited it, paraphrasing too closely is still plagiarism.
~There will always be a degree of uncertainty in these rankings, some of which will reveal “real” performance changes (Ravitch, 270-271).
Example 4: Properly paraphrase from the original text by restating the author’s ideas in different words and phrases, and include a citation to the original source.
~Sean Corcoran, an economist at New York University, generated a study where he investigated the teacher evaluation systems in New York and Houston. His research led him to find that the average “margin of error” of a New York City teacher was plus or minus 28 points (Ravitch, 270-271)
Example 5: Properly paraphrase from the original text by restating the author’s ideas in different words and phrases, add a direct quote, and include a citation to the original source.
~Based off Corcoran’s findings on teacher evaluations, Ravitch draws the conclusion that a teacher whose ranked in the 43rd percentile might have peers that rank“…anywhere between the 15th percentile and the 71st percentile” (Ravitch, 270-271).
Based on the avoiding plagiarism assignment, you grasped some of the important concepts here, but not all. Look again at your example 4, which asked you to “properly paraphrase” by restating the original ideas, but instead, you paraphrased them too closely to the structure of the original sentence.
Here’s the relevant portion of the original passage:
Sean Corcoran, an economist at New York University, studied the teacher evaluation systems in New York City and Houston. He found that the average “margin of error” of a New York City teacher was plus or minus 28 points.
Here’s what you wrote, which is too similar to the structure above, and therefore is plagiarism:
Sean Corcoran, an economist at New York University, generated a study where he investigated the teacher evaluation systems in New York and Houston. His research led him to find that the average “margin of error” of a New York City teacher was plus or minus 28 points (Ravitch, 270-271).
Fortunately, in example 5, you properly paraphrased the original source. However, you forgot to include a full reference to the original source at the bottom of your post. Furthermore, the correct spelling in this example is: “a teacher who’s ranked,” because it is a contraction of “a teacher who is ranked.”