Plagiarism and the Web: Myths and Realities

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The move from an analog to a digital culture is raising a new set of challenges for educators and students when it comes to writing and critical thinking. This study examines what web sources students rely on and how educators can help students develop better citation and writing skills.



Key findings include:



• Plagiarism is going social

One-third of all content matched in the study is from social networks, content

sharing or question-and-answer sites where users contribute and share content.



• Legitimate educational sites are more popular than cheat sites

One-quarter of all matched material is from legitimate educational web sites,

almost double the number that comes from paper mills or cheat sites.



• 15 percent of content matches come directly from sites that promote and

benefit from academic dishonesty

Paper mills and cheat sites are the third most popular category for matched

content.



• Wikipedia is the most popular site for matched content

Wikipedia remains the most popular single source for student-matched content on

the Web, comprising seven percent of matches in the months examined.

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The Common Core and the Future of Student Assessment in Ohio

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Ohio committed itself to embracing higher standards that cross state lines when it joined 45 other states and the District of Columbia in adopting the Common Core standards in math and English language arts (ELA) in June 2010.



But, adopting rigorous academic standards is just the first step in a long journey. High academic standards do not automatically translate into stronger student performance. These higher standards must be accompanied by adequate, on-going training for current and future teachers, principals, and district leaders to understand the new standards; new, aligned curriculum at the local level; and aligned and well-designed assessments.



Ohio could ultimately develop its own assessments, though that is costly, challenging, and time consuming. And even if Ohio were able to muster the money and capacity to develop its own rigorous, content-aligned assessments, it would not be able to compare Ohio students and schools with those in other states and the nation as a whole. Further, Ohio would have to go it alone in terms of developing curricula, professional development tools, and computer systems.



Alternately, Ohio can move forward with one of two voluntary consortia of states working, with nearly $200 million of Race to the Top funding apiece, to develop Common Core assessments: the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) and the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC). (Ohio is presently a member of both but a decision-maker in neither.) This report outlines the characteristics of SBAC and PARCC and raises implementation concerns for Ohio as it moves forward with this decision.



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New study findings reveal US high school science standards in genetics are 'inadequate'

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Most states fail to keep pace with modern genetics in their science curricula



A new study by the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG), the country's leading genetics scientific society, found that more than 85 percent of states have genetics standards that are inadequate for preparing America's high school students for future participation in a society and health care system that are certain to be increasingly impacted by genetics-based personalized medicine. ASHG's study findings are being published in the September 1 issue of the CBE–Life Sciences Education journal.



"Science education in the United States is based on testing and accountability standards that are developed by each state," said Michael Dougherty, PhD, director of education at ASHG and the study's lead author. "These standards determine the curriculum, instruction, and assessment of high school level science courses in each state, and if standards are weak, then essential genetics content may not be taught."



According to ASHG's study, which included all 50 states and the District of Columbia:



- Only seven states have genetics standards that were rated as 'adequate' for genetic literacy (Delaware, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington).

- Of the 19 core concepts in genetics that were deemed essential by ASHG, 14 were rated as being covered inadequately by the nation as a whole (or were absent altogether).

- Only two states, Michigan and Delaware, had more than 14 concepts (out of 19) rated as adequate. Twenty-three states had six or fewer concepts rated as adequate.



"ASHG's findings indicate that the vast majority of U.S. students in grade 12 may be inadequately prepared to understand fundamental genetic concepts," said Edward McCabe, MD, PhD, a pediatrician and geneticist who is the executive director of the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome at the University of Colorado. "Healthcare is moving rapidly toward personalized medicine, which is infused with genetics. Therefore, it is essential we provide America's youth with the conceptual toolkit that is necessary to make informed healthcare decisions, and the fact that these key concepts in genetics are not being taught in many states is extremely concerning."



Spages 5-6 for two U.S. map charts that provide a state-by-state summary of the quality and comprehensiveness of genetics coverage in states' science education standards.



For a list of the individual concept scores for each state, see the supplementary data chart.





"We hope the results of ASHG's analysis help influence educators and policy makers to improve their state's genetics standards," said Dougherty. "Alternatively, deficient states might benefit from adopting science standards from the National Research Council's Framework for K-12 Science Education, which, although not perfect, does a better job of addressing genetics concepts than most state standards that are currently in place."

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