Example 1: Plagiarize the original text by copying portions of it word-for-word
Diane Ravitch argues against using student test scores to decide if an individual teacher is effective. She reports that Sean Corcoran, an economist at New York University, found that 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 evidence of Corcoran says that there is an average “margin of error” of plus or minus 28 points, making it unpredictable to judge a teacher from year to year because between each year these value-added scores may change, causing these results to be instable. These flaws make it challenging to trust the results of the student test scores.
Example 3: Plagiarize the original text by paraphrasing its structure too closely, and include citation
Diane Ravitch uses the evidence of economist Sean Corcoran to prove that the “margin of error” between teachers to too large and that the scores fluctuate between years. As a consequence, this makes the value-added scores to be hard to trust.
Works Cited:
Ravitch, Diane. The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education, Revised and Expanded Edition. New York: Basic Books, 2010.
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
By using the evidence presented by an economist at New York University, Sean Corcoran, Ravitch proves that the “margin of error” is too large to have a teachings ranking actually hold merit. Furthermore, this “margin of error” varies each year as well as the rankings of teachings, there by creating unreliable data.[1]
Works Cited:
Ravitch, Diane. The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education, Revised and Expanded Edition. New York: Basic Books, 2010.
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
Diane Ravitch makes a case that the value-added scores to judge teachers are unreliable. With the evidence from an economist from New York University, which states that “the average ‘margin of error’ of a New York City teacher was plus or minus 28 points”,[2] which means that the rankings of teachers is invalid.
Works Cited:
Ravitch, Diane. The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education, Revised and Expanded Edition. New York: Basic Books, 2010.
[1] Diane Ravitch, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education, Revised and Expanded Edition (New York: Basic Books, 2010), 270-271.
[2] Diane Ravitch, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education, Revised and Expanded Edition (New York: Basic Books, 2010), 270-271.
This exercise demonstrates that you understand the basic differences between plagiarizing versus properly paraphrasing sources, but there were grammatical errors that made your writing difficult to understand. Look again at example #5, which could have been written more clearly, perhaps like this:
Diane Ravitch makes a case that the value-added scores to judge teachers are unreliable. Using evidence from NYU economist Sean Corcoran, who states that “the average ‘margin of error’ of a New York City teacher was plus or minus 28 points,” she concludes that the rankings of teachers are invalid.[2]
Also, example #3 did not include a citation (meaning either an in-line citation or footnote), which appears to have been an oversight because this was correctly done in examples #4 and #5.