New allegations emerge against disgraced education director
Spence faces plagiarism probe over PHD
The University of Toronto is now investigating allegations that former Toronto District School Board director Chris Spence plagiarized several lengthy passages of his doctoral thesis — which, if proved, could lead to him to losing his degree.
Further allegations are also emerging that passages in books he authored also contain plagiarized material, in addition to those already alleged in a number of newspaper articles, online postings, his blog and speeches that originated from sources as varied as the New York Times, Scholastic and Amazon.ca.
Spence resigned Thursday as Toronto’s director of education amid a growing plagiarism scandal triggered by a reader’s complaint to the Toronto Star’s public editor.
Prior to Toronto, Spence was director of education for the Hamilton public school board, from 2004-09.
Spence, in a written statement, said he is “aware of allegations with respect to other writings, including my 1996 PhD dissertation. I want to assure the relevant parties that I intend to fully co-operate with any possible inquiry. I look forward to hearing from them at the appropriate time.”
He did not respond to repeated messages to comment on plagiarism allegations in his books.
Spence has published at least two books on boys’ education, Creating a Literacy Environment for Boys, in 2005 and The Joys of Teaching Boys, in 2008.
The Toronto Star found several instances of apparent plagiarism in Spence’s books, including The Joys of Teaching Boys. Spence writes on Page 7: “These behaviours are viewed as interfering with literacy success, and they skew teachers’ perceptions of boys’ abilities and their willingness to engage in texts.”
The sentence also appears word-for-word in Morphing Literacy, a 2004 article written by Heather A. Blair and Kathy Sanford in Language Arts, preceded by a sentence that is also nearly identical to one in Spence’s book.
Spence received his doctorate in education from the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. His thesis was titled The Effects of Sport Participation on the Academic and Career Aspirations of Black Male Student Athletes in Toronto High Schools.
The Toronto Star found five passages that had apparently been plagiarized from other sources, in the first 33 pages of the 289-page document alone. In some instances, Spence appears to have copied word-for-word from other authors.
Michael Kurts, assistant vicepresident of strategic communications and marketing at the University of Toronto, said in an email that the matter was under review.
“The University takes academic integrity very seriously. The matter is under review. At this time, the university has no further details to provide,” he said.
If the dissertation is found to have breached the university’s code of behaviour on academic matters, the matter could lead to a hearing before the university tribunal. Sanctions include anything from reprimand to the “recall or suspension” of his degree, Kurts said.
Since 2006, U of T has revoked just six degrees, none of them at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
After an emotional four-hour meeting Friday behind closed doors, Toronto trustees officially accepted Spence’s resignation.
However, they will wait until Monday night to name an interim director until a permanent replacement is hired, with luck by the time school starts next fall.
Spence left with a payout of over six months’ salary still left in his $272,000-a-year contract. He is also entitled to a unused sick day payments, as well as vacation pay, totalling $45,000, sources said. Toronto Star