Phoenix Union High School District Expands Turnitin Use to Sixteen Schools

District-wide license supported by custom training program helps instructors improve student evaluation across diverse population

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Turnitin

Feb 20, 2014, 11:00 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Turnitin, the leader in originality checking and online grading, today announced that Phoenix Union High School District has licensed Turnitin for its sixteen high schools, allowing teachers in every discipline to check the work of more than 27,000 students for originality, as well as grade assignments and conduct peer review exercises online.

Turnitin was first introduced to one District school in 2007. As Turnitin broadened its instructor grading functionality and more students became familiar with originality checking through their participation in the District's dual enrollment program with community colleges, District officials decided the time was right to expand the license for use by all students and faculty.

Read the complete story of how Phoenix Union High School District adopted Turnitin.

Turnitin reports that more than 29,000 student papers were submitted between September and December 2013 with over 14,000 (48%) graded using the Turnitin online grading tool.

The fast adoption across sixteen campuses is due to a well-organized train-the-trainer model. "We identified technology 'gurus' on each campus who attended live Turnitin training sessions," says Ann Murray, Language Arts Content Specialist for the District. As a result, teachers receive immediate support from their colleagues and are more willing to share and collaborate with each other.

"We're encouraging and developing the use of Turnitin across the curriculum. Teachers are using the Common Core-aligned rubrics, making their own custom QuickMark sets, and conducting peer reviews in nearly every discipline," says Murray.

For more information about using Turnitin, visit the Turnitin website.

About Turnitin
Turnitin is the global leader in evaluating and improving student learning. The company's cloud-based service for originality checking, online grading and peer review saves instructors time and provides rich feedback to students. One of the most widely distributed educational applications in the world, Turnitin is used by more than 10,000 institutions in 126 countries to manage the submission, tracking and evaluation of student work online. Turnitin also offers iThenticate, a plagiarism detection service for commercial markets, and WriteCheck, a suite of formative tools for writers. Turnitin is backed by Warburg Pincus and is headquartered in Oakland, Calif., with an international office in Newcastle, U.K. For more information, please visit www.turnitin.com.

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SOURCE Turnitin