Principal admits copying speech

[title1parent]

Obviously they don't use TURNITIN.COM in District 203... ;D

Principal admits copying speech
Caudill used parts of past student's address without credit, permission

May 23, 2008

By Tim Waldorf [e-mail]

Some say every graduation related speech sounds the same, but the speech delivered by Naperville Central High School Principal Jim Caudill during the school's Tuesday evening commemorative ceremony was eerily similar to one delivered by a Central graduate 11 years ago.

Thursday, Caudill acknowledged that he'd lifted a large portion of his address from a 1997 speech delivered by then student Megan Nowicki-Plackett, and that he did so without receiving her permission beforehand, or crediting her afterward.

"She and I have talked about this, and I've talked to the (English) department today, and there's no excuse," Caudill said of his mistake.


Writer's block

Caudill said he was still struggling to write his speech after the school's Monday evening awards program, and in need of some inspiration at that late hour, he turned to a file of student speeches Central principals had collected over the years.
Caudill said he found the inspiration he was looking for when he reviewed Nowicki-Plackett's 1997 commemorative speech. He said he almost called to ask for her permission at that time, but decided that, at almost 10:30 p.m., it was too late to do so. He said he also thought about requesting her permission in an e-mail, but knowing that Nowicki-Plackett would actually be attending the commemorative ceremony, he instead decided he'd broach the subject the next day - either with a phone call or an in-person conversation.

"Then Tuesday came around, and I said, 'I've got to go see Megan,'" Caudill said. "I had a note sitting on my desk, but I didn't catch her. I just lost track of time."

And Caudill said he should have given Nowicki-Plackett credit either during or after the speech.

"It's no different than we say to kids," he said. "You need to put quotes around your information when you take it from somewhere else."


Mistakes happen

Caudill said he has since discussed the mistake with Nowicki-Plackett, as well as the school's English staff and Naperville School District 203 Superintendent Alan Leis, and added that he plans to inform the rest of the school today.
"I certainly can't condone what happened. It is inappropriate," Leis said. "But we also try to tell our students that when we make mistakes, and we all make them, that we stand up for our mistakes and do our best to make restitution for them.

"So I do recognize in this situation that another important lesson is that Mr. Caudill has been very willing at this point to admit his error."

Leis said Caudill was "perfectly willing to make this public" during Central's Wednesday evening graduation ceremony, but that he and others involved in the discussion decided doing so would "inappropriately take the spotlight off of the students who were the focus of last night's ceremony."

Nowicki-Plackett could not be reached for comment.

[sushi]

I guess it's ok for the principal to make a mistake. Not the first one this year either - reassigning a teacher who stood behind her students instead of the principal on a school paper was another big one. Not impressed with Caudill at all.

[title1parent]

SUN Editorial: Caudill should resign over plagiarism

May 28, 2008

Naperville's public schools have attained a reputation for excellence. In many ways, they are the engine powering the local community. Property values are strong, thanks to the strength of public schools.

Naperville residents have consistently supported the public schools with tax-increase requests to fund facilities improvements and operational costs, which mostly consist of salaries and benefits for teachers, administrators and staff.

By supporting their public schools, Naperville parents and residents ask for nothing less than excellence in return. When something happens that threatens to diminish that hard-earned reputation for excellence, the community is right to expect school leaders to take corrective action in a timely and appropriate manner.

Naperville Central High School Principal Jim Caudill seriously damaged Naperville School District 203's academic integrity when he plagiarized a former student's speech at a graduation ceremony May 20. Caudill was up late the night before working on his own address, which he discarded because he felt it was unsatisfactory. Searching for inspiration, he turned to a file of past speeches and found one he liked, which was given in 1997 by a student who is now a Naperville Central teacher.

Caudill thought about calling the speech's author to ask for permission, but decided it was too late in the evening. He thought about sending her an e-mail but dismissed it as impersonal. He meant to contact her the next morning but got busy and forgot. In his own words, midway through the speech that evening he realized he had neglected to talk to the speech writer.

At that moment, Caudill could have escaped with mere embarrassment by simply acknowledging the words of inspiration he was reading to Central graduates were not his own. But he didn't, and thus surrendered his chance to uphold the academic integrity of Naperville public schools.

This is what the school tells students about plagiarism in a policy explaining its code of ethics about research papers:

"The Naperville Central community expects that students do their work honestly, without cheating or plagiarizing. The integrity of the academic program depends upon an honest approach by our students. It is the responsibility of our students, teachers and administration to protect the integrity of our academic program. Cheating or plagiarizing at any level, at any time, will not be tolerated. Consequently, when evidence of cheating or plagiarism exists, the assignment will receive no credit, the student has no opportunity to make up that work, and the deans will be notified."

If the school is to apply such rigorous standards to its students, should it not hold its teachers and administrators to an even higher standard?

Caudill has admitted to an error in judgment and apologized. We feel this response is insufficient and unsatisfactory. What message would the school community send to students and taxpayers if this admission of guilt and apology were to be the only consequence? Cries of hypocrisy would echo through hallways. Administrators could not in clear conscience enforce policies created to uphold the school community's academic integrity if someone as important as the top administrator of a high school was held to a different, indeed, lesser standard.

Moreover, the district would face difficulty enforcing all its policies. Obviously, the next time a teacher or dean attempts to reprimand a student who is caught plagiarizing, one would expect the student to say in his defense, "How can you punish me? The principal got away with it." Consider another example, where, in accordance with the district's zero-tolerance policy, a good student who commits a horrendous error in judgment by bringing a toy gun to school no doubt faces expulsion. How could the school community continue enforcing harsh disciplinary action upon students who make mistakes, if leaders like principals are allowed to dodge consequences with excuses and apologies?

If the school district is serious about its commitment to academic integrity and excellence, then Caudill should immediately step down as principal of Naperville Central High School.

By all accounts, he is a good administrator with a long and respected career. It's unfortunate - and a decision that we do not take lightly - that one act should lead us to call for an abrupt end to such a career. But we believe it would be impossible for Caudill to continue in his role as principal - impossible for the school district to uphold its academic integrity values, enforce disciplinary policies and deliver to residents and taxpayers the level of excellence they have come to expect and deserve.

[sushi]

Meanwhile the student-run school paper won a prestigious award.

[title1parent]

D203 board discusses Caudill
Parent group voices support for principal

May 29, 2008

By Tim Waldorf [e-mail]

Naperville School District 203's board met Wednesday to determine how it will handle a principal's admitted plagiarism.

Superintendent Alan Leis confirmed that the special, closed-session meeting was called to discuss the conduct of Naperville Central High School Principal Jim Caudill. He said the board would not take any action on the matter during the meeting, but, before entering closed session, the board did open its meeting in a public forum to hear comments from a group of parents who petitioned to speak on Caudill's behalf.

"We all make mistakes, but luckily we don't all have to have these mistakes played out in a public forum and in the press the way it has been," said Maureen Berry, a parent volunteer who has worked with Caudill over the years. "And I would also hate to see one mistake that a man did take responsibility for and I believe has paid a very high price for be the end of a very long and extensive career. It would really be a crime to do that to him."


» Click to enlarge image Caudill

Board members, on the other hand, declined opportunities to share their thoughts on the situation prior to Wednesday's meeting.
"We're going to be discussing the full details of the situation with the administration this evening, and then we're going to have a broader sense of what the next steps should be," said board President Suzyn Price. "It is certainly not a decision we should make hastily or comment on without all of the information right now."

Last week, Caudill admitted he plagiarized a former student's speech during the school's May 20 commemorative ceremony. In admitting his mistake, Caudill said "there's no excuse" for what he did. He also explained how it happened.

Caudill said he was up late the night before working on his own address, which he discarded because he felt it was unsatisfactory. Searching for inspiration, he turned to a file of past speeches and found one he liked, which was given in 1997 by a student who is now a Naperville Central English teacher.

Caudill said he thought about calling the speech's author to ask for permission to use the material, but decided it was too late in the evening. He said he also thought about sending her an e-mail but dismissed it as impersonal. And he said he intended to contact her the next morning but got busy and forgot.

He said he realized he'd yet to speak to the teacher midway through his delivery of the speech, and he said he contemplated crediting her at that time, but did not. He said he opted to discuss it with her afterward, but lost her in the crowd.

On Wednesday, The Sun's editorial board called for Caudill's resignation in a rare front-page editorial. The board noted that Caudill admitted to and apologized for his error in judgment, but said that response was "insufficient and unsatisfactory."

"If the school district is serious about its commitment to academic integrity, then Caudill should immediately step down as principal of Naperville Central High School," the editorial said.

Caudill could not be reached Wednesday for a response to the editorial.

[WeNeed3]

Wow, looks like Caudill wasn't the only one being naughty...


Principal, student punished for plagiarism

May 29, 2008Recommend (32)

By Tim Waldorf [e-mail]
Naperville Central High School Principal Jim Caudill isn’t the only one Naperville School District 203 is punishing for plagiarism.

During a Thursday afternoon press conference in which District 203 officials announced that Caudill would likely be “reassigned” due to his admitted transgression, Superintendent Alan Leis revealed that portions of the commencement address delivered by Central’s valedictorian also appear to be plagiarized.

» Click to enlarge image

Jim Caudill, principal of Naperville Central High School, will be reassigned next year. The school's 2008 valedictorian has also been punished for plagiarizing his commencement address.
(Jonathan Miano/Staff photographer)


RELATED STORIES
• D203: Statement about plagiarism
• Blog: Scandal deepens
Leis would not identify the valedictorian by name, but, in covering Central’s May 21 graduation ceremony, Central administrators reported that Steven “Hankong” Su was the valedictorian for Central’s class of 2008.

“Again, we sees these events as serious breaches of our standards and an aberhation from the norm,” said Leis as he concluded a prepared statement. “When issues like these arise, it is very important that we reinforce the consistent expectation of ethical behavior.”

District officials are asking that the student return the valedictorian medal and plans to remove the valedictorian speech from the videotape of the graduation ceremony.

The district distributed a statement Thursday indicating that it planned to convene a panel of community members, teachers and educators to help find ways to reinforce the schools ethics standards.

[rural]

Su apparently meant to give credit for the speech, it was late and he just forgot.

[WeNeed3]

While this is quite sad for District 203, I must admit it was a relief to see a different school district on the front page of the Sun today instead of us.

[gatormom]

I am just glad to see they are doing something to Caudill. I hate to see his career impacted by this but what lesson are we teaching our children if there is no consequence for his actions.

I understand that it was an oversight but still, we are the example for our children and how can you fail a child in a class for plagiarism yet allow this to go unpunished?

[gatordog]

This rated an opinion piece from a Chicago Tribune columnist! I highlighted a very good point made by Mr Zorn

Principal's blunder holds good lessons

Eric Zorn

School officials in Naperville are confronting what parents and educators call a "teachable moment."

Naperville Central High School Principal Jim Caudill delivered a speech last week at a school ceremony that included significant passages lifted without attribution from another source.

And worse, his explanation is as shabby and dismaying as the deed itself.

Caudill told my colleague Ted Gregory that it began on the night of May 19 when he was searching for inspiration for a speech he was to deliver to a senior honors assembly the following evening. In the school's files, Caudill told Gregory, he found a speech delivered by a student 11 years ago at the same event and decided the speech would form the basis of his remarks.


Caudill told Gregory he wanted to get permission from that former student--Megan Nowicki-Plackett, now a communication arts teacher at the school-- but it was 10:30 p.m., too late to call her at home. And he felt e-mail was "too impersonal for such a request," to use Gregory's paraphrase.

Rubbish. "Hey, your 1997 speech is as relevant today as it was back then. Do you mind if I quote at length from it tomorrow night?" is not only a perfectly acceptable (and flattering) request to make via e-mail, it's also a perfectly unnecessary request.

The first lesson of this teachable moment: It's OK to borrow the phrases, felicities and insights of others without asking, as long as you make it very clear to your audience where the words and thoughts come from.

Caudill told Gregory he tried but failed to contact Nowicki-Plackett the next morning, then got busy and didn't think of the matter again until that evening. "I'm in the middle of my speech," he told Gregory, "and I paused and I thought, 'Oh my God, I have not talked to [Nowicki-Plackett] before."

That pause was his opportunity. That pause was the window into which he should have inserted a gracious and grateful footnote acknowledging Nowicki-Plackett, who was reportedly in attendance.

Instead Caudill plundered along, deceiving his audience into thinking her words were his own. He did not contact Nowicki-Plackett and other school officials until the next day to explain what had happened, by which time it was too late.

The second lesson: Plagiarism can't be undone with excuses.

Caudill's rococo narrative of honorable intentions repeatedly gone awry is a novel variation on "I relied on my notes, which I didn't remember were copied verbatim from another source" and "I merely forgot to include attribution." But, like all defenses for literary theft, it aggravates the offense by failing to rise to the level of plausibility.

In this case, Caudill's dubious defense isn't even exculpatory: Even if he had received Nowicki-Plackett's enthusiastic blessing to recycle her speech, he was ethically bound to give her full and clear credit when quoting her.

Not having done so was a serious offense, particularly for a high school principal. The third lesson of this teachable moment--that with greater position comes greater accountability--hangs in the balance.

It may sound harsh, but Jim Caudill has to go. If he doesn't resign, the superintendent or Board of Education must demote or fire him to underscore the school's commitment to academic integrity.

Anything less--token discipline, a formal tut-tut--won't do. Allowing him to remain as principal would send the message that the more powerful you are, the more slack you get when you mess up.

It would turn the teachable moment into a bitter lesson.

Fire him or forgive him? Post your thoughts at chicagotribune.com/zorn

[rural]

What I personally find almost as disturbing as the fact that he plagiarized, is the fact that he didn't feel the necessity to prepare in advance for something as important as this event. Call me crazy, but the night before the speech is when you should be practicing it, not writing it.

[southsidesignmaker]

It was a shame that Jim Caudill did not take the many opportunities he had to give credit where credit was do. This mistake has probably cost him much in the way of any career advancement.

What also concerns me is the way The Naperville Sun reported this situation, especially with regard to the full page editorial. Though this article may not have sealed this man's fate, I feel this editorial was far from necessary and maybe even self serving. The decision regarding punishment imo was not a "call" the paper had any right to make.

The punishment was the right of the school board and only the school board. Let them do the job they were elected to do without outside interference. I feel this was violated by the Sun when they used the front page as the editorial section.

When I received a response from the editor I was told that the correspondence was so overwhelmingly negative they felt it was imperative to act.

Am I just overreacting, I do not know this principal, just had higher expectations of our local paper. Any comments?

[eb204]

May 30, 2008 21:02:38 GMT -5 southsidesignmaker said:

It was a shame that Jim Caudill did not take the many opportunities he had to give credit where credit was do. This mistake has probably cost him much in the way of any career advancement.

What also concerns me is the way The Naperville Sun reported this situation, especially with regard to the full page editorial. Though this article may not have sealed this man's fate, I feel this editorial was far from necessary and maybe even self serving. The decision regarding punishment imo was not a "call" the paper had any right to make.

The punishment was the right of the school board and only the school board. Let them do the job they were elected to do without outside interference. I feel this was violated by the Sun when they used the front page as the editorial section.

When I received a response from the editor I was told that the correspondence was so overwhelmingly negative they felt it was imperative to act.

Am I just overreacting, I do not know this principal, just had higher expectations of our local paper. Any comments?

While I don't "know" him, I recently found out that he lives down the street from me and I know his wife. She has a different last name so I never really put 2+2 together.

I think he made a big mistake in judgement and certainly had opportunity to give credit where it was due. However, knowing that he is my neighbor makes it very difficult to "judge" the situation. I don't really know why that is, since I don't really "know" him as I said, but I'm finding it very difficult to form an opinion. Even before I knew this information, I was undecided on what the appropriate consequences should be. Now I feel even more conflicted. I guess it's hard to separate the issues when it's literally "so close to home".

I agree that the Sun's exposure and editorial was a bit over the top. Certainly an article would have been sufficient. I'm sure LTE's would have come in even without their editorial. I also found out this man has some personal family issues he is dealing with. Not that this is an excuse, but it might explain why he "forgot" to credit the author. On the flip side, he had several months to prepare for this event. I don't know what to think about the situation. I wish him and his family the best though.

[southsidesignmaker]

To: eb204,
Thank you for your informative post. When I was a younger man I viewed life as if it was black and white, cut and dry, never any room for the gray area. May I say selfishly, never any room for someone that made a bad error. As I grow older, I realize how little I know, how the world is a far cry form the black and white world I once lived in. I only hope that upon further investigation some might be able look at the whole picture (not that it is an excuse for what has taken place).

Thanks again.

[title1parent]

Among the many LTEs in the Sun today, which were either "supportive" or " not" of Principal Jim Caudill, we find D203's own PW. ** Best I can do for you Chico.....


District lacks integrity, honesty

In a special bulletin e-mailed to Talk203 subscribers, District 203 highlighted two cases of plagiarism at Central. The district said it expects to reassign Central's principal, and it will also ask this year's valedictorian to return his medal.
Citing board policy, the e-mail stated, "All school district employees are expected to maintain high standards in their school relationships, to demonstrate integrity and honesty, to be considerate and cooperative, and to maintain professional relationships with students, parents, staff members, and others." All this consternation coming from the same school district that sold its 2002 referendum to "reduce" the deficit? The district is now posting a gigantic multimillion-dollar windfall surplus. This is the same school district that in 2005 said it would discontinue the practice of giving taxpayer money away in the form of retirement enhancements for teachers? The practice was extended in 2007. This is the same school district that interviewed dozens of candidates to fill a vacant school board seat only to end up selecting a close friend of the board president? District 203 has absolutely no right to be citing integrity and honesty.

Mike Davitt

Naperville