Debate/Editorial/Op-Ed: Topic #1 Honesty Reading Packet
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kaplana@newton.k12.ma.us mrkaplanenglish.weebly.com Date: Debate/Editorial/Op-Ed: Topic #1 - Honesty Reading Packet For Monday, you watched the two parts of the interview with Professor Frankfurt and commented on the class blog. You also located logical fallacies to two commercials from the weekend’s Super Bowl. In this packet, you have- - excerpts from South’s and North’s policies on cheating and plagiarism - two stories on a recent cheating scandal at Harvard - survey results on academic honesty from NSHS (then) 9th graders - survey results on academic honesty from students in AP English Language in Feb. 2012 - some headlines that might lead to further reading in addition to those readings, you should locate on my Diigo page “My Library” and search the “honesty” tag. There are other tags that might lead you to something of interest, such as “cheating” “honorcode” and “plagiarism.” Feel free to look around. Reading for Tuesday – - “Teaching the Virtues” by Christina Hoff Sommers, which is bookmarked on my Diigo site with the “honesty” tag, but you can also find it at www.forerunner.com/forerunner/X0116_Teaching_the_Virtues.html. (In addition to this, you have your Outside Reading conversation to complete)
- “Plagiarism Is Not a Big Moral Deal” by Stanley Fish, which is bookmarked on my Diigo site with the “honesty” tag, but you can also find it at http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/plagiarism-is-not-a-big-moral-deal/.
a) read “Josephson Institute of Ethics Releases Study on High School Character and Adult Conduct,” which is bookmarked on my Diigo site with the “honesty” tag, but you can also find it at http://josephsoninstitute.org/surveys/index.html. b) bookmark on Diigo and share with the group one story about a middle school or high school that has an honor code and/or an honor court. c) prepare for debate – if you are in the debate group, figure out who is pro or con, who will open, what points you want to make, etc.; if you are not in the debate group, bring a set of questions to ask of each side when it is your turn. You will receive the specific Honesty scenario on Wednesday. For the debate on Thursday, you are debating the proposal in the scenario. For the editorial/op-ed due Monday, you will be responding to the scenario, writing for a specific publication, but you shouldn’t explicitly reference class discussions. In other words, you can use what you learned from the discussion, but you will be writing as if it didn’t happen. (So, no references to “in our class discussion….” or “during our debate…” For Monday, you should decide whether or not you are writing an editorial or an op-ed, and that should affect the tone and the voice of the piece. Either way, you will be writing for the Newton TAB. While you don’t need to try to mimic what you think the politics of that publication are, you should consider who they are, what position they occupy in the community, and what their relationship is with their readers. from NSHS Orange Lion 2013-2014, page 11. Cheating and Plagiarism Cheating and plagiarism are serious violations of the personal and academic standards of the school and are destructive to the learning process. "Plagiarism is the improper use of, or failure to attribute, another person's writing or ideas (intellectual property). It can be an act as subtle as the inadvertent neglect to include quotes or references when citing another source or as blatantly unethical as knowingly copying an entire paper verbatim and claiming it as your own." Teachers should make the school policy regarding plagiarism clear to students. Once the teacher, after consulting with the department head, has determined that plagiarism has occurred, the teacher will inform the housemaster, and the parents will be notified. The teacher will give the student a zero for the assignment and the student's term grade will reflect the zero that has been averaged in for that assignment. Housemasters will keep a record of student violations. A second offense in any subject between the first offense and graduation will result in a one-day suspension as well as having the zero averaged in to the term grade. For a third offense and beyond more serious disciplinary actions will be taken in accordance with the Newton Public School’s Students’ Rights and Responsibilities Handbook. from http://nnhs.newton.k12.ma.us/general-info-top-293/policies-a-guidelines-top-315/5828-policy-on-plagiarism-cheating-and-forgery Policy on Plagiarism, Cheating and Forgery No student will use anyone else’s work without proper attribution. Plagiarism is the improper use of, or failure to give credit to, another person’s writings, visual or musical representation, or ideas. It can be an act as subtle as inadvertently neglecting to use quotation marks or references when using another source or as blatant as knowingly copying an entire paper, or parts of a paper, and claiming it as your own. -- edited version of statement from Plagiarism.org, p. 1, May 15, 2000 Plagiarism procedure Teachers will discuss this plagiarism policy in every class at the beginning of a course and discuss academic and ethical reasons for not using the work of other people without proper attribution. Teachers will make it clear that they will be vigilant about looking for plagiarism and will explain the consequences and penalties.
If a teacher and department head believe that plagiarism has occurred, they will meet with the student. When they determine that the student has committed a first offense: - Student receives a zero for the assignment. The teacher and department head decide whether the student deserves a chance to redo the work and how the zero will affect the term grade. - Teacher or department head informs the housemaster. The housemaster then keeps records by student of each offense without putting an official letter in the student’s file. The housemaster may choose to suspend a student for a first offense. - Teacher, department head or housemaster will inform the parent(s) or guardian(s). When they determine that the student has committed a second offense: - Student receives a zero for the assignment with no make-up, and the term grade will reflect this zero. - Student serves a one-day suspension. Suspension automatically results in a letter in the student’s file. Further offenses result in more serious disciplinary action. Source: NNHS Course Catalog Recent Cheating Scandal at Harvard There are many factors to consider with this story. Below are two stories that raise several questions for us to consider. There are certainly others, and I encourage you to look into this issue further, either for this assignment or to satisfy your own curiosity. If nothing else, it will be helpful for you to think about this as you go into college and possibly take courses with a similar structure to the one at the heart of this story. http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/02/02/harvard-details-suspensions-massive-cheating-scandal/6gzGzU2WvbFG17T4kAq50L/story.html Harvard details suspensions in massive cheating scandal By Martine Powers and Katherine Landergan February 2, 2013 CAMBRIDGE — More than half of the roughly 125 Harvard University students investigated by the college’s disciplinary board for cheating on a take-home exam last spring were forced to temporarily withdraw, school officials announced Friday. The disclosure, communicated in an e-mail to the Harvard community from Michael D. Smith, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, was the most extensive accounting of what is being called the Ivy League’s largest cheating scandal in recent times. Smith said the inquiry, which concluded in December, resulted in about half of the students implicated in the high-profile case being asked to leave the college for “a period of time.” Affected students have said that it amounted to two academic semesters for most. The rest of the students were evenly split between those who received disciplinary probation or had their cases dismissed, he said. “We, as a faculty, must redouble our efforts to communicate clearly and unambiguously to our undergraduates about academic integrity,” Smith wrote. “While the fall cases are complete, our work on academic integrity is far from done.” The official announcement came as no surprise to many undergraduates, who saw dozens of classmates, teammates, and friends quickly disappear from campus without explanation throughout the fall semester. But the statement provided new perspective on the details of the investigation, a process that even Smith conceded had experienced delays because of its massive scale. Though Harvard officials declined to comment further on the details of the case, Smith’s letter outlined a series of possible reforms that may be put in place to help students and faculty avoid similar situations in the future. The students were accused of collaborating on the last of four take-home exams in the spring 2012 lecture Government 1310: Introduction to Congress. The students were given a week to complete the exams. Suspicions were first made public last August, when Harvard announced it was dealing with a cheating scandal of unknown scope. Smith acknowledged the resolution of the cases took “much longer” than many had expected. He also addressed a major complaint among students: The disparity in tuition refunds for those who were suspended. At Harvard, tuition refunds are pro-rated, based on when a student withdraws. As the Administrative Board delved into details of the case, the timeline for student hearings grew from weeks to months. Those whose cases were heard in September were able to recoup thousands of dollars more than peers whose cases were decided in December. Harvard administrators have decided to fix that disparity, and will now provide tuition refunds based on Sept. 30 as the withdrawal date for all. Still, that was small consolation for some implicated in the case who maintain that the Administrative Board used unfair practices to determine students’ guilt or innocence. Many have taken issue with allegations that students copied one another’s tests; they say similarities in exams arose because they shared notes with classmates, a practice expressly encouraged by the professor. “The tuition issue — it’s an important one, but of all the issues we have with the Ad Board, it’s way down on the list,” said a father whose son withdrew after he was found guilty. He called Smith’s letter insulting. “Their own faculty has culpability, which they have failed to acknowledge,” said the parent, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of harming his son’s chances of being readmitted. “They should be exonerating these kids and looking hard at themselves and realizing they are the cause of this situation.” Smith’s e-mail outlined upcoming plans by the school’s Committee on Academic Integrity to help students and faculty find ways to prevent academic dishonesty or inappropriate collaboration. These measures may include instituting an honor code or incorporating lessons on scholarly values into courses and residential houses. One student who was exonerated said the recommendations rang hollow — the majority of similarities in the take-home exams occurred, he said, because of unclear directions by the instructor. Focusing on reforming student attitudes, he said, is wrong-headed. “That’s not at the root of what happened in this particular instance,” he said. On campus Friday, opinions among students were mixed. Michael Constant, 19, said he thinks the college wanted to make a statement. Not punishing students, he said, would have been the same as condoning the behavior. “I think it’s fair,” said Constant, who is studying neurobiology, said of the board’s decision. “They made the choice to cheat.” But Georgina Parfitt, 22, said the punishment was too harsh, and that many students in the class could have been confused about the policy. “Sending someone away for a semester or a year, it’s awful,” said Parfitt, an English major. “It changes someone’s life.” Harold Eyster, 19, said students who cheat should be punished, but he was disappointed by the college’s response. Some professors have begun forbidding collaboration among students, he said, a move that Eyster feels could hinder learning at Harvard. “Collaboration is so important in academic learning,” he said. -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/29/education/harvard-dean-in-e-mail-controversy-to-step-down.html May 28, 2013
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA The undergraduate dean at Harvard will step down this summer, she and the university announced on Tuesday, months after she came under fire for her handling of a search of some junior faculty members’ e-mail accounts. Evelynn M. Hammonds, the first woman and the first African-American to hold the position of dean of Harvard College, will leave that post on July 1 after five years, but she will remain on the faculty, the university said in a statement posted online. She will lead a new program on race and gender in science and medicine, topics that have been at the core of her scholarly work for decades. “I was never asked to step down,” Dr. Hammonds said. “I have been in discussions to return to academia and my research for some time.” Harvard disclosed last summer that well over 100 students were suspected of cheating on a take-home exam, the largest such scandal in memory. As the Administrative Board looked into the cases and the students’ guilt or innocence — dozens of them were forced to take a leave from the college — elements of the investigation, which was supposed to be confidential, were reported by The Harvard Crimson. In March, it was revealed that university administrators, hunting for the sources of those leaks, had searched through Harvard e-mail accounts of 16 resident deans, who are junior faculty members, live in the student houses and act as student advisers. Most of the resident deans were not told of the searches until months later. Dr. Hammonds and Michael D. Smith, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, who had approved the search, said that only the messages’ subject lines were examined, not their contents, and that no other e-mail search was conducted. But a few weeks later, Dr. Hammonds acknowledged that she had ordered another search, without consulting Dr. Smith, that also looked for specific e-mail recipients. Faculty members described a loss of trust after the searches became public, and The Crimson called on Dr. Hammonds to resign. Harvard’s president, Drew Gilpin Faust, conceded that the university’s e-mail privacy policy was contradictory, and commissioned an outside lawyer to investigate the affair. Dr. Hammonds said, “The e-mail controversy was difficult, but it was not a motivating factor in my decision to step down as dean.” Results of Survey on Academic Integrity In the fall of 2012, three 9th grade English classes (two taught by Mr. Reinstein, one by Mr. Kaplan) responded to a ten-question survey. The responses are below. In the margins, take some notes. What is surprising? What isn’t? Do you think students were honest on this survey? Do you think these percentages hold true for all of South? Last school year …
The following is from a survey taken by students in AP English Language in February, 2012. I. Results from our Honesty Survey. space for your notes
Some questions: Everyone in this survey is in this AP course. Do you think these percentages represent opinion across the school? Do you think South students have a markedly different opinion of themselves and their environment than students at other schools of themselves and their own environments?
Some optional further reading: http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2012/09/11/blurring-cheating-and-collaboration/ Blurring cheating and collaboration BY SOPHIE GOULD STAFF REPORTER Tuesday, September 11, 2012 Dean of Yale College Mary Miller said the news of the investigation at Harvard has prompted administrators to begin brainstorming ways to further combat cheating at Yale. “It’s paramount in our minds here in the Dean’s Office this week, particularly in terms of the kinds of communications we want to have with faculty and students at the beginning of the semester,” she said last Wednesday, adding that the community should “stay tuned.” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/08/education/12-students-suspended-in-cheating-plot-at-stuyvesant-high-school.html Students Are Suspended in Stuyvesant Cheating By Al Baker Published: September 7, 2012 A dozen Stuyvesant High School students have been suspended and more than 50 others are facing suspension because of new evidence that has emerged in a continuing investigation of cheating during final exams in June, school officials said Friday. http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/02/justice/georgia-cheating-scandal/ Former Atlanta schools superintendent reports to jail in cheating scandal By CNN Staff updated 10:00 AM EDT, Wed April 3, 2013 (CNN) -- The former superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools was among the educators who surrendered to authorities Tuesday after being indicted by a grand jury in a cheating scandal that rocked the district and drew national attention. Beverly Hall resigned from her position in 2011 after a state investigation into large, unexplained test score gains in some Atlanta schools. She has denied any role in the cheating scandal. A Fulton County grand jury last week indicted 35 educators from the district, including principals, teachers and testing coordinators. They were ordered to turn themselves in by Tuesday, District Attorney Paul Howard said.
By DANIEL E. SLOTNIK and RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA Published: January 30, 2012 Claremont McKenna College, a small, prestigious California school, said Monday that for the past six years, it has submitted false SAT scores to publications like U.S. News & World Report that use the data in widely followed college rankings.
By Alfie Kohn Just about everyone agrees that cheating is bad and that we need to take steps to prevent it. But it is precisely this overwhelming consensus that makes me uneasy. Whenever a conclusion seems so obvious and is accepted so uncritically, it’s probably time to take a fresh look. That doesn’t mean we’re obligated to give equal time to arguments in favor of cheating, but it may make sense to reconsider what the term actually signifies and examine what leads students to do what they’re not supposed to – and what that tells us about their schooling.
Martin Gansberg, "Thirty-Eight Who Saw Murder Didn't Call the Police," New York Times (March 27, 1964) For more than half an hour 38 respectable, law-abiding citizens in Queens watched a killer stalk and stab a woman in three separate attacks in Kew Gardens. Twice their chatter and the sudden glow of their bedroom lights interrupted him and frightened him off. Each time he returned, sought her out, and stabbed her again. Not one person telephoned the police during the assault; one witness called after the woman was dead. That was two weeks ago today. Still shocked is Assistant Chief Inspector Frederick M. Lussen, in charge of the borough's detectives and a veteran of 25 years of homicide investigations. He can give a matter-of-fact recitation on many murders. But the Kew Gardens slaying baffles him--not because it is a murder, but because the "good people" failed to call the police. http://chronicle.com/article/Academic-IntegrityStud/32323 Academic Integrity and Student Plagiarism: a Question of Education, Not Ethics By SUSAN D. BLUM Student plagiarism is a problem on many college campuses. The two main approaches that institutions use to prevent it call for treating plagiarism either as morally wrong or as a crime. But neither avenue can be universally successful. http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/rhodes-scholarship-officials-tell-u-s-applicants-write-your-own-essay/ Rhodes-Scholarship Officials Tell U.S. Applicants: Write Your Own Essay January 23, 2014 by Nick DeSantis In recent years, colleges have increasingly tried to groom top students for illustrious scholarships such as the Rhodes and the Fulbright. But officials with the Rhodes Trust are now pushing back against that trend, telling American applicants that they must certify that they wrote their personal essays on their own, without help.
Boston charter schools teach it, but is it working? Boston Prep, with its weekly ethics class and its community meetings where students receive value commendations for good behavior, is among a growing number of charter schools that aim to instill in their students positive character traits, from perseverance and self-discipline to generosity and kindness. Scott Seider, a School of Education assistant professor and an expert in character education, recently studied Boston Prep and two similar Boston charter schools to help answer two vital questions about this educational model: does it actually work, and what effect does it have on student achievement?
By STANLEY FISH August 9, 2010 http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/in_defense_of_cheating.html In Defense of Cheating Preamble: No, I am not in favor of deception, trickery, fraud, or swindle. What I wish to change are the curriculum and examination practices of our school systems that insist on unaided work, arbitrary learning of irrelevant and uninteresting facts. www.nytimes.com/2011/02/20/magazine/20FOB-Ethicist-t.html THE ETHICIST Hollywood Property Values By RANDY COHEN Published: February 18, 2011 “The Social Network” poses this question: Did Facebook’s founderMark Zuckerberg steal the idea for the site from Harvard classmates? My row at a Writers Guild screening of “The Social Network” posed this one: Isn’t it a little rich to examine that issue in a Hollywood movie, the product of an industry often portrayed as a snake pit, where one snake is apt to swipe the work of another? Isn’t it even richer now that the movie has garnered eight Oscar nominations? http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/11/22/041122fa_fact Something Borrowed: Should a charge of plagiarism ruin your life? by Malcolm Gladwell - NOVEMBER 22, 2004 Directory: uploads uploads -> 587 Return function, r i(X) r i(0) r i(1) r i(2) r i(3) 1 0 2 4 6 Thermal Station, I 2 0 1 5 6 3 0 3 5 6 10 uploads -> Department of science and humanities department of mathematics part-a questions and answers uploads -> The Case Against the nypd’s Quota-Driven ‘Broken Windows’ Policing What Is It? uploads -> For want of a nail uploads -> Ownership Models There are two different types of ownership models uploads -> Police Militarization uploads -> City of rising star regular meting thursday, july 14, 2016 uploads -> Township of winfield uploads -> Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act of 2014 uploads -> The Black Panther Party’s Ten-Point Program What We Want Now! Download 147.83 Kb. Share with your friends:
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