She said, he said, but he has proof
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Anonymous
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Plagiarism accusation (sort of). After the fact, DC senior emailed all details to me, including teacher emails. Assigned a business project requiring legal research, and policy laws. However, it wasn't a research paper. Teacher rubric stated internet usage to complete an employer handbook containing 10 or so policies. That's it. No citations, use of quotes. Rough draft had to be turned in after running through a plagiarism checker. Teacher isn't tech savvy and communicates via email. She posted assignment on classroom with a link to a very weak checker app. She also moved the goal posts the entire week.
DC submitted draft after checking and changing anything flagged. Returned with flags. Hybrid, so kids were only in person one day, and she gave them 20 minutes to run plagiarism check, make corrections, and turn in. It was 10 or so pages. He ran out of time. The policies were legal, and as such, nearly impossible to change generic wording, such as, sexual harassment, code of conduct, discrimination, etc. Zero with no discussion. DC respects authority, never plagiarized, and has a great relationship with this teacher. He spoke with her via zoom, she didn't let him get a word in. He emailed valid proof and screenshots of generic flags, "Name of company has a zero tolerance policy..." He forwarded emails. Shot down, threatened to escalate, lots of teacher psycho babble. Thing is, he wasn't fighting the grade, only defending himself with proof against an accusation with many holes in it. Principal sent an email to all teachers, parents, students that final grades would be pushed until last Wed and extra day to "make up missing assignments, do extra credit, improve grades." Of course, son thought that applied to all. Teacher finalized her grades 2 days prior to principal's extension. His grade 98 dropped to 90. More emails ensued. She escalated, he spoke with principal who tossed it back to teacher. Mid year report finalized for colleges. No resolution. On Friday, at 5 p.m., she sent him an email stating escalation to his file, stripped of scholarship app, and eligiblity for NHS. This is quadruple jeopardy. Winter break this week, and she left him with no opportunity to resolve. New principal is too busy trying to be cool. DC has taken 3 years of teacher's elective courses. He's supported for her 3 years in many capacities and vice versa. Old principal is now superintendent and great guy, but winter break. Nothing he can do now. Told him wait until they return from break, reply to her email and cc whoever he wants with a short, I've learned that standing up for myself is necessary, despite the consequences. I respect your decision, and I'm grateful for your support the past 3 years. Respectfully, ... Would like your advice, maybe teachers here can help. Please no snark. He did not hand in a deliberately plagiarized assignment. My kid isn't a "snowflake", he drives his own process and values my help when asked. My concern is that this teacher used very vague language in her late eve Friday emai. This is decision time and she seems unhinged. Can she retract her letter of recommendation? DC has 5 teacher recs and he used different ones for different colleges. We have no idea if she will blow up his remaining apps. Also, he has every right to speak to the principal. No disciplinary issues ever, good student, incredible manners. |
Anonymous
| Honestly, a HS senior should be able to independently avoid plagiarism in this case. His defense seems weak. But, sure, fight it so he gets whatever grade he needs. He’ll figure it out in college. |
Anonymous
| Your kid didn't manage his time well and plagiarized even though that wasn't his intent. There are consequences which you don't like. Let him figure it out. |
Anonymous
| That sounds like a bad assignment and he should know to include works cited if he’s essentially using quotes regardless of rubric. However, the teacher sounds like she has no understanding of what plagiarism is if she thinks it can be identified by a subpar checker and then fixed in 10 minutes. If it was accurately picking up plagiarism the papers should be rewritten, not reworded. |
Anonymous
| His defense is that he didn't realize he had plagiarized until he ran it through a computer program and then ran out of time to fix all the instances of plagiarism? That makes no sense. |
Anonymous
I agree. So many details in my op. Laws and policies are hard to reword. Also, she only allowed the class (they all had flags) to use the linked plage checker and it was flawed. Example: He changed wording from sexual harassment to sexual misconduct. But, sexual misconduct was flagged. Can you understand how frustrating this was? Everytime he made changes, some other string of 5 words flagged. I took his original and ran it through another app. It show 1-3% flagged in various paragraphs. He looked up everything he could find on what constitutes plagiarism in legal handbooks. It was all over the place. |
Anonymous
| It sounds like she used a bad checker. Which one was it? |
Anonymous
He used quotes when given that final 20 minutes. Rubric didn't require works cited (though he does this for many assignments). What he did was state a policy, and include, "In accordance with Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990" |
Anonymous
I agree that it does not seem reasonable that he would need to be told to use quotes and citations. I think he needs to be careful of how he responds at this point in order not to continue agitating this teacher. This is a tough lesson for him, but part of it is going to be diplomacy. Standing up for himself is not worth it if it means throwing away things that are important for his future. Also, I really don't think that he has much of a leg to stand on if this was not a problem that more of his class experienced. It sounds like it really is his problem. |
Anonymous
| OP again - to the pp that asked, it was Google classroom originality checker. ^pp it was an entire class issue. There is one other glaring issue. Since kids were remote, she said she'd email individual students any further corrections. When he realized his grade was zero, he zoom'd her. She said she emailed everyone on Monday. He didn't get her email. He showed her his file and nothing. Trust me, he wouldn't lie about this. She refused to show him proof that she sent it |
Anonymous
| OP, is this in Loudoun County? |
Anonymous
No. We're not in DMV |
Anonymous
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What do you mean he supported her for the past three years?
Are you saying he didn’t plagiarize but instead somehow no matter what he wrote, it was flagged? Maybe he can write out a timeline and a clear explanation of what he did, attaching proof as exhibits. Make sure it clearly demonstrates why he didn’t plagiarize. Make it as concise and as unemotional as possible. Then at the end he can maybe talk about his track record of proven good work, his work ethics, etc. This can be something he sends to the teacher and the principal. Otherwise, what are you asking? |
Anonymous
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She has dug in. She is not going to back down no matter what evidence he provides. Some teachers are cray cray.
My kids never had a single issue except for one teacher..and boy she was cray. I later found out there was quite a precedent with other students. I’m not sure what was happening in her personal life, but she got nuttier. |
Anonymous
| My kids aren’t old enough to use plagiarism checkers yet but I’m shocked that common phrases like “in accordance with American Disabilities Act” or “sexual harassment” could be flagged. How is the possible? That’s not plagiarism and using something that would flag these common errors seems like a terrible policy. If what you say is true, I truly hope it can be resolved in time. It’s totally appropriate to seek a parent’s advice when faced with an untrue accusation like this. If the facts in your OP are true, I really wish you the beet of luck and wish I had some actual advice for you. |