Avoiding Plagiarism Exercise

Posted on

Example 1: Plagiarize the original text by copying portions of it word-for-word.

A teacher who gets a particular ranking in year one is likely to get a different ranking the next year. There will always be instability in these rankings, some of which will reflect “real” performance changes. But it is difficult to trust any performance rating if the odds of getting the same rating next year are no better than a coin toss.

Example 2: Plagiarize the original text by paraphrasing its structure too closely, without copying it word-for-word.

A teacher can get a different ranking score each year because of instability in rankings, which reflect real performance changes. It is difficult to believe performance ratings because they are a toss up.

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.

Stability in rankings is inconsistent because they reflect “real” performance, so they are difficult to trust because a teacher’s ranking can change year-to-year. (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.

In regards to teacher evaluation, Sean Corcoran has found that there is a large fluctuation in how a teacher will be ranked year-to-year. Due to rankings being based off of performance changes that are considered, as Ravitch says “real,” they are inconsistent and therefore cannot be fully trusted. (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.

After studying how teachers are evaluated in both New York City and Houston, Sean Corcoran discovered that “the ‘margin of error’ of a New York City teacher was plus or minus 28 points” (Ravitch 270-271). This shows the significant difficulty New York City faces in ranking teachers since the margin of error is so large.

One thought on “Avoiding Plagiarism Exercise”

Comments are closed.