The quality of a dissertation by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district’s superintendent is being called into question after an investigative report into potential plagiarism.
The News & Observer shared a story on Wednesday examining the doctoral dissertation by Nyah Hamlett, who received her Ph.D. from the College of William & Mary in 2019. The newspaper said it examined and cross-checked the 164-page paper “after receiving a tip that the manuscript contained questionable credits and attributions.”
Upon review, the News & Observer said 35 sections of the dissertation matched the phrasing from sources “word-for-word” and are misidentified or unidentified. The paper fails to properly quote from The Journal of School Nursing, The Journal of School Health, a U.S. Surgeon General’s Report and other sources, according to excerpts highlighted in the newspaper’s article. The story also featured a trio of interviews with professors who study in plagiarism — with two saying the exact matches of sentences indicate copying and the third saying they believed the dissertation should at least “be corrected if possible.”
Nyah Hamlett, the superintendent of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, received her doctorate degree in 2019 from William & Mary. (Photo via CHCCS.)
Hamlett, whose doctorate is in educational policy, planning, and leadership, declined interview opportunities with the Raleigh-based newspaper. She did, however, allude to the review of her dissertation in a weekly message to CHCCS families, students and staff on Friday, January 6.
“This week,” wrote Hamlett, “I’d like to be as open and transparent as possible on a topic that reminds me being in public leadership requires perfection (and undue scrutiny and judgment), sometimes at the expense of the progress and grace that I often encourage our community to extend to self and others. I only hope that I can model what I expect of our community, display the capacity to adjust, and take the Michelle Obama approach … ‘When they go low, we go high.’”
The superintendent went on to say she stands by her sourcing in the dissertation, but acknowledged that “the placement of some citations and some word choices” could be re-worked, upon review. Hamlett also said while she’s confident her work went through a “rigorous review process” by William & Mary, she is having the project reviewed again — although she did not disclose the party doing so.
“I want each of you to know that I maintain my commitment to transparency with and accountability to our Chapel Hill-Carrboro community,” Hamlett said. “Rest assured, I continue to believe in authentic, relational and transparent leadership. No one has higher standards for myself than I do, and it means the world to have the continued support of those who encouraged and challenged me during the years of research that were invested in this body of work. I stand by my work and William & Mary’s process. The Dean of the School of Education at The College of William & Mary supports my work and the multi-layered review process that it went through, as does my dissertation chair, who also responded to an inquiry from this same reporter.”
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools hired Hamlett in November 2020 after a search to replace former superintendent Pam Baldwin, who resigned after a series of controversial financial manipulations was discovered. Previously, Hamlett worked with Loudoun County Public Schools and Henrico County Public Schools in Virginia. At the time, board members said Hamlett stood out as a candidate based on her relationship-building, communication skills and focus on equity.
CHCCS School Board Chair Rani Dasi also voiced support for Hamlett in a statement shared with Chapelboro, saying the superintendent continues to have the backing of the elected officials. She said:
“There are so many critical issues facing our community and considering the limited resources available to local media, one can’t help but wonder why/how this story got prioritized.The main “evidence” in the article refers mostly to the material on page six in chapter one of the dissertation. It is noteworthy that this chapter is 34 pages in length and includes dozens and dozens of citations/references throughout the text. We are essentially talking about a page which could benefit from clarifying attribution and Dr. Hamlett has acknowledged that the placement of some citations and some word choices could’ve been done differently.Dr. Hamlett arrived in Chapel Hill-Carrboro with stellar feedback from previous districts and quickly demonstrated her ability to lead, successfully navigating the district through a global pandemic, and building processes to transition between remote and in-person instruction for nearly 12,000 students. She has continued to build sustainable foundations to educate students, focusing on core elements such as school safety, allocating resources to retain teachers and staff, and consistent curriculum implementation and execution across the district.We know her to be an effective, authentic leader, and amidst continued attacks on public education, the board is grateful for her leadership to continue to focus on improving student outcomes for this district.”
“As your superintendent,” wrote Hamlett on January 6, “I will continue to think strategically while remaining professional and calm in the midst of seemingly tumultuous times. As individuals and as a community, being resilient has to be our superpower. It starts with genuine humility and a desire to model the way and roll up our sleeves to make this community better each day. My title, accolades, credentials, years of experience and degrees only matter on my resume. The way that I interact with each of you to solve problems of practice is far more important than what an article might say.”
The News & Observer said William & Mary declined to comment for its story. The newspaper’s full investigative report can be found here.
Editor’s Note: This article is an updated version, with Dasi’s comments being published on January 12. Additionally, a correction was made to correctly reference the College of William & Mary and to change it from being referred to as William & Mary University.
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Correction — it’s called the College of William and Mary. While my alma mater offers graduate programs, it kept the name “College of” for historic reasons.
Hi there — thank you for this correction! The post has been updated.
Dr. Hamlett oversees the punishment of students who perpetrate plagiarism offenses. Seems hypocritical to me.
Just an FYI. It looks like external links are excised from posts. If you check public CHCCS Performance Updates submitted to Dr. Hamlett, they include office referrals for students who committed plagiarism. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
“Previously, Hamlett worked with Loudoun County Public Schools and Henrico County Public Schools in Virginia. At the time, board members said Hamlett stood out as a candidate based on her relationship-building, communication skills and focus on equity.”– Shirley, there must be an “equitable” solution to this conundrum.
Hypocrisy is not a scarce commodity in Chapel Hill.
News and Observer willingly participated in someone else’s undisclosed agenda and showed low journalistic integrity(and skill) with this hit piece. Thinking of cancelling my subscription.
“Saying that bad people talked about a fact doesn’t make the fact go away.” (not my original words, but I forgot who to attribute them to)