Sample Parenthetical Documentation:

When you paraphrase information from a source, you must let your reader know where this information comes from.  MLA format indicates that you use parenthetical documentation in order to avoid plagiarizing.  Inside the parentheses, you should use the author’s last name and a page number, whenever possible.  If you do not know the author, use the title.  If there are no page numbers because the source has been printed from the internet, skip this requirement.  The following paragraph is an example of how to cite multiple sources in the same paragraph.  The placement of parentheses is very important; it indicates to the reader that all of the information leading up to the parentheses is from the same source. 

 

          High stakes tests are a growing problem in the United States.  In order to ensure that all students are learning and retaining information, many states have started testing students throughout the year.  These tests are meant to measure not only how much information students remember, but also how well teachers communicate new information.  In theory, high stakes tests are a good idea; however, in reality, these tests are not achieving the desired results (Whitney 55).  Teachers and students are concerned with the growing number of high stakes tests, and some teachers have resorted to “teaching to the test” to make sure that their students achieve high scores on these tests (The Truth about High Stakes Testing).  Further, current educational research shows that high stakes tests are not the most appropriate way to test students.  Many states require students to pass a test at the end of each grade level, and if students do not pass, they must repeat the year.  Other states, like Massachusetts, use the standardized MCAS test as a graduation requirement.  Students who do not pass this test are unable to graduate until they do so (Myers 6).  According to one high school student, “The tests we have to take in school cause everyone to feel really stressed out.  Worrying that I won’t be able to graduate definitely makes me more nervous while taking the test” (Hill 11).  As one can see, high stakes tests are not the best way to assess students.

 

Once you have finished a research paper, you must then create a works cited.  This page will let your reader know where all of your information comes from, in case they want to read more on your topic.  A sample is provided on the back. 

Works Cited

Hill, McKenna.  “Students React to High Stakes Tests.”  Library School Journal.  December 2001: 11-26. 

Myers, Carl.  “Graduation Requirements in the United States.”  Education Digest.  Spring 2001: 5-15. 

The Truth about High Stakes Testing.  12 March 2007.  School Source.  www.schoolsource.com/high­­_stakes_tests

Whitney, Karen.  Do High Stakes Tests Make the Grade?  New York: Pendant Publishing, 2005.