Did Dr.Horton Plagiarize his Dissertation?

An exploration into The Impact of Leadership Preparation Programs on “Turnaround Leaders” in Schools

Over the last two years, I’ve gotten a ton of tips on this story and really didn’t want to write about it. For one, in 2023-24 there was a right-wing attack on Black academics - including a big mess involving the then President of Harvard, Claudine Gay. I didn’t want to be part of that and didn’t think this was newsworthy given he already left Evanston. However, given the recent indictment, this story is newsworthy now.

Dr. Horton published his dissertation on May 3, 2018 and was awarded a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from Chicago State University. His dissertation is titled “The Impact of Leadership Preparation Programs on “Turnaround Leaders” in Schools” and it’s public, but hard to find. You can read it here.

In order to do this analysis, I ran it through ithenticate, which is the “gold standard” for plagiarism analysis in higher education. ithenticate is a subsidiary of a company everyone in education knows well, Turnitin. I also had an independent researcher validate these results using the plagiarism checker on Grammarly.

It cost me $300 to run this analysis, so if you want to throw me a few bucks, you can do this at the link below.

The subject of the dissertation is transformation theory in education. What is transformation theory? This definition comes from Coursehero, which itself comes from a random Kenyan PhD thesis.

They further observe that, transformation occurs when leaders create a vision for transformation and a system to continually question and challenge beliefs, assumptions, patterns, habits and paradigms with an aim of continually developing and applying management theory, through the lens of the system of profound knowledge. Transformation happens when people managing a system focus on creating a new future that has never existed before, and based on continual learning and a new mindset, take different actions than they would have taken in the past.

Dr. Horton agrees, I guess, and gives us an almost identical definition on page 8. The square brackets indicate the word was removed.

Transformation theory holds that change occurs when leaders create a vision for transformation and a system to [continually] question and challenge beliefs, assumptions, patterns, habits, and paradigms with an aim of developing and applying management theory through the lens of the system of profound knowledge (Land, 1973). Transformation happens when people managing a system focus on creating a new future that has never existed before and, based on continual learning and a new mindset, take different actions than they would have taken in the past.

He removed a word, added a parenthetical citation to (Land, 1973) but omits it from the bibliography. Too bad because this Land paper from 1973 is absolutely lit.

The fundamental thesis of his dissertation is something like: the educational system requires major transformation. To accomplish this, school districts need better principal training and are currently missing the mark when it comes to preparing them for transformational change. He establishes this through a survey of 53 principals (Horton, 2018). The survey kind of disproves his point, but whatever.

Background: Academy of Urban School Leadership (AUSL)

Dr. Horton at the time, was a principal at a school in the Academy of Urban School Leadership (AUSL) network. AUSL’s whole thing was transformational change via “turnaround schools”. AUSL would take over a public school, fire the teachers, and put new people in charge. Unsurprisingly, the Chicago Teachers Union was not a fan and sued AUSL, resulting in a settlement. In 2021, CPS ended the program, although AUSL still runs a teacher residency program.

Back to his dissertation, there are some issues with the paper - it’s hard to exactly quantify how many. Plagiarism detectors highlight all sorts of things that are borderline. For instance, the below passage, from page 8 shows a fair amount of overlap within a parenthetical. Is this plagiarism? I’d probably yell at one of my students for this and make them resubmit, but I don’t think I’d go to the dean.

The parenthetical citation Murphy (2007) is omitted from the bibliography.

I want to share a few examples that I think are bigger and more problematic in the dissertation. I notified Chicago State about this in April 2024 and they replied they had received my complaint, but I am not aware of any action taken.

A) Verbatim Copy with Incomplete Citations

On page 32, Dr. Horton writes the following;

The experience and responsibility of addressing diversity issues in independent schools is the focus of this article. Open-ended interviews were conducted with diversity coordinators in independent schools in a large urban area in the Northeast. Coordinators were asked about their roles within the schools and about their participation in a study on race within the school. Five major themes emerged around the issue of racial tokenism that described the tensions that diversity coordinators face. They included the marginalized isolation of “being the only one” school system, resistance toward defining diversity, marginalized perception of Blackness, intense and suppressed need for role support, and racial cognitive dissonance (Hess & Kelly, 2007).

Results indicate that diversity coordinators are often isolated within their schools and may face increased vulnerability due to their tokenized status and roles as diversity coordinators. Recommendations for addressing these issues in independent schools are proposed.

This passage is a direct copy of an abstract for a completely different paper, Double Jeopardy: Being African-American and “Doing Diversity” in Independent Schools by Hall & Stevenson. The copied abstract of that paper is below;

The experience and responsibility of addressing diversity issues in independent schools is the focus of this article. Open-ended interviews were conducted with diversity coordinators in independent schools in a large urban area in the Northeast. Coordinators were asked about their roles within the schools and about their participation in a study on race within the school. Five major themes emerged around the issue of racial tokenism that described the tensions that diversity coordinators face. They included the marginalized isolation of “being the only one,” school system resistance toward defining diversity, marginalized perception of Blackness, intense and suppressed need for role support, and racial cognitive dissonance. Results indicate that diversity coordinators are often isolated within their schools and may face increased vulnerability due to their tokenized status and roles as diversity coordinators. Recommendations for addressing these issues in independent schools are proposed.

Three things here:

1. The entire passage is a direct copy-paste from a third paper’s abstract.

2. The paper parenthetically cited is Hess & Kelly, yet the abstract copied word-for-word was authored by a Hall & Stevenson. Neither paper is in the bibliography.

3. The text doesn’t even make much sense in the dissertation - he never proposes recommendations for independent school diversity employees.

B) Patchwriting with Improper Attributions

On page 39, Dr. Horton writes;

Duke (2006) states that Virginia has done much to implement interventions aimed at improving low-performing schools. Under the leadership of Governor Mark Warner and Superintendent of Public Instruction Jo Lynne DeMary, Virginia has created an academic review process to ascertain the causes of low performance and has established the Partnership for Achieving Successful Schools (PASS) program to provide ongoing instructional assistance to low-performing schools. Assessment tests, such as the Phonological Awareness and Literacy Screening (PALS) test and the Algebra Readiness Diagnostic Test, have been endorsed by the state as useful tools for identifying students who require special assistance.

…

A common feature of many of the efforts to turnaround low-performing schools across the nation is their reliance on the experience of veteran educators. The value of firsthand experience when it comes to arresting the downward spiral of academic decline is indisputable. Relying on experience alone, however, can be risky. Each veteran’s experience is usually limited to a small number of school settings. Educators often claim that each school and community is characterized by idiosyncratic features that influence any effort to introduce change.

Here’s the language from the original paper: What We Know and Don’t Know About Improving Low-Performing School by Daniel Duke.

Virginia has probably done as much as any other state to implement interventions aimed at improving low-performing schools. Under the leadership of Gov. Mark Warner and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jo Lynne DeMary, Virginia has created an academic review process to ascertain the causes of low performance and has established the Partnership for Achieving Successful Schools (PASS) program to provide ongoing instructional assistance to low-performing schools. Assessment tests, such as the Phonological Awareness and Literacy Screening (PALS) test and the Algebra Readiness Diagnostic Test, have been endorsed by the state as useful tools for identifying students who require special assistance.

…

A common feature of many of the efforts to turn around low-performing schools across the nation is their reliance on the experience of veteran educators. No one can dispute the value of firsthand experience when it comes to arresting the downward spiral of academic decline. Relying on experience alone, however, can be risky. Each veteran’s experience is usually limited to a small number of school settings. Educators often claim that each school and community is characterized by idiosyncratic features that influence any effort to introduce change.

He does cite the correct source (Duke, 2006), but again copies the entire passage and changes a few small things. Again, using a parenthetical citation instead of a direct quote.

It’s not like he doesn’t know how to do these direct quotes, the very next page, on page 40, he properly directly quotes from a different paper.

C) Copy and Paste with Improper Citations

Dr. Horton on page 139 writes;

The job of a principal has changed dramatically in the last decade, and principals are feeling the stress. In the past, a principal’s chief responsibility was to oversee the day-to-day operations of a school, including budgets and discipline. Today, principals are increasingly being dragged away from their administrative tasks and into classrooms, where they are asked to evaluate teacher performance and help teachers improve (Mader, 2016).

This is the exact text from “How to help principals do a better job? Train their bosses“ by Jackie Mader. In that story, she writes;

The job of a principal has changed dramatically in the last decade, and principals are feeling the stress. In the past, principals’ chief responsibility was to oversee the day-to-day operations of a school, including budgets and discipline. Today, principals are increasingly being dragged away from their administrative tasks and into classrooms, where they are asked to evaluate teacher performance and help teachers improve.

On page 31, he does it again, changing a few words, cites only half it using a parenthetical citation instead of a direct quote:

It’s not usual for school district leaders to spend time observing classrooms. But Oakland is one of a growing number of districts trying to reconnect top administrators to the kids they serve as a way to help the school leaders (Mader 2016). Observing lessons and spending time with students, administrators may be better informed about challenges in schools, and better equipped to support principals.

The original language from the story (bold are changes):

It’s rare for school district big wigs to spend time in a classroom. But Oakland is one of a growing number of districts trying to reconnect top administrators to the kids they serve as a way to help the critical middleman in education: the school principal.

By observing lessons and spending more time with students, administrators may be better informed about challenges in schools, and better equipped to support principals.

A few words changed here and there (can’t use “big wigs” in a dissertation?), but basically the same passage with improper parenthetical citation.

D) Copy and Paste with Incomplete Citations

Here’s another one. On page 31, he writes;

Several studies have demonstrated pronounced benefits for black children with same-race teachers, ranging from better math performance to higher graduation rates. And although the body of research on the effects of same-race principals is still relatively small, it does point to student benefits (MONGEAU, 2017). New Leaders for New Schools featured a story on a school in Chicago and its African Principal, who is a 2007 alum of New Leaders and has taught for 12 years prior to becoming a Principal. For example, a national study published in March 2017 Elementary School Journal found that black students are more likely to be recommended for gifted programs in schools that have a black principal. (That is important because black students have been underrepresented in gifted programs for decades.) And numerous studies point to the benefits of diverse organizational leadership, including one by the consulting firm McKinsey showing that companies with diverse boards of directors perform better than those with mostly white men on their boards

Minus the sentence in bold, this is word-for-word from a story in the Atlantic, How to Recruit Black Principals by Lillian Mongeau.

Several studies have demonstrated pronounced benefits for black children with same-race teachers, ranging from better math performance to higher graduation rates. And although the body of research on the effects of same-race principals is still relatively small, it does point to student benefits. For example, a national study published in the March 2017 Elementary School Journal found that black students are more likely to be recommended for gifted programs in schools that have a black principal. (That’s important because black students have been underrepresented in gifted programs for decades.) And numerous studies point to the benefits of diverse organizational leadership, including one by the consulting firm McKinsey showing that companies with diverse boards performed better than those with mostly white men on their boards.

Again, he used a parenthetical citation but copied the text almost word-for-word, cited half of it, inserting his own words in the middle.

More Examples

There are more examples of all of the above that I’m omitting here. Some of them are more complex cases, such as lists copied verbatim;

Or definitions of words (page 13);

Is it enough to accuse him of plagiarism? I’ll leave that to you to decide. If I got this from one of my undergrads (I teach at Northwestern), they’d get a sternly worded email telling them to clean this up and next time I go to the dean. My co-teacher I’m pretty sure would go straight to the dean.

For a doctoral thesis, I’m astonished that this got through.

At bare minimum, Chicago State needs to review and consider retraction.