Academic Honesty Policy

International Baccalaureate 

PYP And MYP Academic Honesty Policy

PYP (Primary Years Programme) / MYP (Middle Years Programme)

 

“International Baccalaureate programmes (IB) encourage students to inquire and to think critically and creatively; students are then asked to give shape to their thinking through oral discussion or presentations, through visual representations and displays, and in multiple forms of writing. However, we live in an age in which we are all flooded  by information and opinions. How can we help students navigate these waters so that they are able to confidently talk or write about what they are learning, making visible and explicit how they have constructed their ideas and what views they have followed or rejected? This is essentially what academic honesty is; making knowledge, understanding and thinking transparent.

 

The principle of academic honesty should be viewed positively by the entire school community and become a natural part of academic study, remaining with the IB Student throughout his or her education and beyond.”

Academic Honesty in an IB Educational Context, 2014, p.1

PURPOSE OF THE ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY

Saint Luke School (SLS) places a high level of importance on academic honesty. With that understanding, a committee of teachers and administrators from SLS developed the Academic Honesty Policy. Consistent with the standards and practices of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IB MYP),  Primary Years Programme (PYP), and the IB Mission Statement, this document provides an overview of SLS’s expectations and practices regarding academic honesty.

 

With an emphasis on academic excellence, SLS develops principled and balanced students who have a deep sense of personal integrity and who are knowledgeable about academic honesty expectations and practices. Students are encouraged to be inquirers and self advocates who ask questions and seek answers regarding academic concerns.

 

SAINT LUKE MISSION AND  SLE’S  (STUDENT LEARNING EXPECTATIONS)

With Catholic values and tradition, educate the whole child to lead as Jesus leads. 

We Believe that a quality Catholic education teaches the whole child spiritually, emotionally, academically, and socially.

We Know that faith formation is a continuous collaboration between the school, the family, the student, the church, and our community.

We Understand that academic instruction and assessment must address the diverse needs and learning styles of all children.  (expanded in APPENDIX)

With an emphasis on academic excellence, an education at St. Luke School forms the foundation for tomorrow’s Catholic Christian Leaders.

 

The foundation of all teaching and learning flows from our school Student Learning Expectations (SLE’s) which are to be an active and faithful Catholic, an engaged and life-long learner, and a socially responsible person.

 

DEFINING CONCEPTS

The Academic Honesty Policy is designed to define and clarify expectations associated with the creation and submission of authentic work. It will provide staff, students, parents and other school personnel with a common understanding of malpractice, it will define the responsibilities of all parties in preventing malpractice, and it will encourage principled behavior in the learning environment of our school.

 

The IB strives to create principled, balanced learners per the IB Learner Profile through a focus on intercultural awareness, communication, and holistic learning. Due to these areas of focus in the PYP and MYP, students will often be working in collaboration with their peers and using sources from experts all over the world to develop their understanding of statement of inquiry. Therefore, we expect students to meet the following expectations:

  • Students take responsibility for their own work.
  • Students work individually unless otherwise instructed.
  • Students recognize the difference between individual work and group work.
  • Students give credit to other people working in the group.
  • Students do not copy other people’s work.
  • Students reference sources according to agreed-upon (age-appropriate) bibliographic formats for each grade.
  • Students use information technology and library resources responsibly.
  • Students are expected to work together, and to recognize and encourage contributions of others in the group.
  • Students are expected to know that the purpose of an assessment, summative or formative, is to show what they know, understand, and can do and must provide their own work.
  • Each group member takes responsibility for his or her roles/tasks and ensures that the other members of the group understand the task and their responsibilities.
  • When a product is required from a group, the product should reflect each member’s contribution.
  • Each student’s work should be explicitly acknowledged.
  • Each student is capable of reflecting on his or her participation and the participation of the other members of the group.
  • Students are able to reflect on the group’s processing of information and communication.
  • Students will always give credit appropriately to any outside research used to inform their product.

 

In order to understand appropriate academic honesty, it is necessary to identify and clarify behavior that can lead to an unfair advantage, or misconduct,  in academic work as well as practices to avoid misconduct. There are 4 types: plagiarism, collusion, duplication of work and unfair practice. 

 

Plagiarism: an act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and/or the representation of that author’s work as one’s own, by not crediting the original author. Plagiarism equally applies to work other than text (ie. art, music, etc). It is important that students understand how to appropriately use another author’s work in their assignments to avoid both intentional and unintentional instances of plagiarism.

Examples:

  • Any representation of others’ work as your own
  • Non-original work that is not cited and appropriately referenced in submissions.
  • Copying information from a book or a website.
  • Misuse of quotation marks, paraphrasing, and in text citations makes authorship unclear.
  • Failure to identify source of elements of nonverbal work (ie. painting, dance, photo, proof, musical composition, etc) from which you have derived your work.
  • Using online language translators unless explicitly allowed.

 

Collusion: supporting misconduct  by another student, including allowing one’s work to be accessed or copied or submitted for assessment by another student.

Examples:

  • Helping someone else cheat both deliberately and through support.
  • Allowing your work to be copied and/or submitted by another student.
  • Divide and conquer approach where you are not the author of the entire assignment given by the instructor (if not part of assignment).
  • Representing significantly unequal work as an equal collaboration.
  • Writing a paper or doing homework for another student, both at the time as well as sharing completed work with students who take a course in the future.
  • Sharing information about assessment content and questions with other students.

Collusion is to be contrasted with collaboration, which we define as multiple students actively engaged during the course as well as in the creation of a product per the assignment guidelines. It is important to note that teachers must be clear with assignment guidelines to specify what is collaboration versus collusion on any given task.

Duplication of Work: submission of the same work, for different assessment components or curriculum components. All assignments should be created newly for the course or assessment unless discussed with the instructor in advance.

Unfair Practice: any action that gains a student an unfair academic advantage.

Examples:

  • Falsifying records
  • Falsifying data
  • Sharing passwords, using unauthorized material
  • Disclosing information about assessments
  • Altering grades
  • Phony citation
  • Impersonating person
  • Misconduct during testing times

It is the understanding of all school personnel that when a student puts his or her name on any assignment, they are submitting it as their own and acknowledging original ownership. 

 

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES IN SUPPORTING ACADEMIC HONESTY

Faculty: (including teachers, counselors, media specialists, support and paraprofessionals)

  • Communicate appropriate collaboration versus collusion with each assignment.
  • Teach a recognized citation convention for written and copyrighted works.
  • Demonstrate and model academic honesty in presentations, etc.
  • Report and record academic dishonesty through a referral 
  • Assure students in your class understand that when they submit a task as their own, they are representing that have not received nor given aid on assignments or assessments. Teachers can opt to ask students to use their signature to explicitly assure this point if needed
  • Minimize temptation for misconduct in assignments/assessment situations.
  • Communicate concerns and malpractice offenses with students, parents, counselors,  and administrators.
  • Throughout the year, subject teachers liaise with the librarian to re-iterate citing and bibliography expectations every time research is undertaken. 
  • Teachers, administrators, and counselors involve students in reflection/discussion in the instance of misconduct.

Students:

  • Confirm understanding of academic honesty with signature on Code of Conduct form each year.
  • Report malpractice violations to a trusted school employee.
  • Understand that putting name on assignment certifies it as your own work
  • Minimize misconduct  temptation by balancing time appropriately.
  • If an incident of misconduct occurs, either intentional or unintentional, complete the reflection process with your instructor.
  • Understand proper citation expectations for assignments (MLA or APA where appropriate).
  • Ask for guidance when you are unsure.

Administration:

  • Support academic honesty policy and investigate all counselor/teacher reports of malpractice.
  • Ensure that all staff, students, and parents understand definitions, responsibilities, and repercussions.
  • Ensure the academic honesty policy is applied consistently throughout the school.
  • Provide staff development and guidance on academic writing and referencing systems that are available.
  • Provide teachers with material to guide students in maintaining academic honesty.
  • Investigation of misconduct.
  • Make parent and student contact to reflect on misconduct.

Parents, guardians, and/or outside support:

  • Read/sign Code of Conduct form.
  • Encourage your child to practice academic honesty.
  • Encourage your child to cultivate a culture of academic honesty in school.
  • Address concerns of academic misconduct with your student and school personnel if necessary.
  • Monitor hired tutors to assure authentic student work.

 

CONSEQUENCES FOR ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT

 

Level 1 Consequences of Misconduct

Teacher Intervention

Students demonstrating academic misconduct do not receive a grade for the work. The student is expected to make up the work for a modified grade within the time frame at the discretion of the teacher. Parents are notified of the misconduct.

 

Teachers who confirm that a student has demonstrated academic misconduct report the incident to the IB MYP Coordinator who determines any further behavioral consequences. A second act of misconduct results in Level 2 consequences.

 

Level 1 Incidents may include:

  • Copying or allowing homework to be copied
  • Taking information from a source that is not properly referenced including words and pictures
  • Working with others on assignments designated as independent
  • Looking at or allowing another student to share answers during a quiz or test
  • Employing secretive methods of using or sharing information during a test or quiz

 

After a Level 1 Incident of academic misconduct, the student meets with the IB Coordinator or Administrator to review the Academic Honesty Policy. This includes a refresher on the four practices to avoid misconduct. 

 

A second incident of academic misconduct results in Level 2 Consequences.

 

 Level 2 Consequences of Misconduct

Teacher, IB PYP/MYP Coordinator, and Administrative Intervention if necessary

Incidents are severe. Students caught in Level 2 incidents do not receive a grade for the work. Parents are notified of the misconduct.

 

Level 2 Incidents may include:

  • Taking papers from the internet or other publications without proper citation
  • Taking any part of a test to use or give to others
  • Submitting any work that has been produced by another source

 

Level 3 Consequences of Misconduct

Administrative Intervention

Level 3 Consequences are extreme and are dealt with by the administration of the school. The result is a parent conference and possible expulsion from the school.

 

Level 3 Incidents may include:

  • A repeated pattern of Level 1 or Level 2 incidents
  • Lying or deceit regarding academic work after initial misconduct
  • Altering records
  • Stealing tests or unauthorized use of materials

 

REVIEW PROCESS

Every three years a committee will be assembled to perform a complete examination of the Academic Honesty Policy. The committee will include, but is not limited to, a representative from at least three different subject areas, the IB PYP and MYP Coordinators, and a member of the Academic Administrative Team. The purpose of the committee will be to study the current document to ensure its accuracy toward meeting  IB and St Luke standards. Our first full review took place in the 2016-2017 school year. 

 

POLICY CREATION PROCESS

The Academic Honesty Policy was created by a committee including the IB Coordinators, a member of the Administration Team, the Librarian, two MYP teacher representatives, and members of the Parents Club. The work of the committee was informed by publications from IB publications as well as example Academic Honesty Policies from IB World Schools. The committee met several times, following an agenda aligned with the PYP and MYP Standards and Practices tied to academic honesty. Staff members were made aware of the policymaking process through regular updates of the meeting agenda items.

 

COMMUNICATION OF ASSESSMENT POLICY TO ST LUKE COMMUNITY The Academic Honesty Policy is shared with staff, families, and students in a variety of modes of communication. Staff members learn about the Academic Honesty Policy during specific collaboration times set aside for policy study. We also review the Academic Honesty Policy at the beginning of the school year with staff, students and parents to reinforce the expectations regarding ethical academic conduct. We have an informational table set up during conferences, in the fall and spring, to inform families and students of the details of the policy. The policy is available on our website in written English form. This will allow our Academic Honesty Policy to be accessed by all families. In the Fall of each school year, the MYP Staff lead a workshop for students that defines academic honesty and dishonesty. Students read the academic honesty policy and sign that they have understood it.

 

APPENDIX

 

Resources:

  • International Baccalaureate Organization,”Program Standard and Practices”, 2014-2016.
  • Bloomfield Hills Schools, Bloomfield Hills High School, Bloomfield Hills Middle School, East Hills Middle School, West Hills Middle School, “MYP Academic Honesty Policy”
  • Prairie Seeds Academy IB World School, “Academic Honesty Policy”
  • International Baccalaureate Organization, “Academic Honesty in the IB Educational Context”, 2014

 

Academic honesty in the school reflects the International Baccalaureate philosophy on academic honesty:

Standard B1.5d: The school has developed and implements an academic honesty policy that is consistent with IB

 

St Luke School Student Learning Expectations:

An active and faithful Catholic: demonstrates a knowledge of the Catholic faith and traditions, develops a personal relationship with God, and knows and practices a variety of prayer forms, participates in the liturgical celebrations of the Church, actively demonstrates service in the parish and the broader community, demonstrates moral and ethical values based on the Catholic faith 

 

An engaged and life-long learner: demonstrates a love and curiosity for learning, demonstrates competency in all academic areas, both independently and collaboratively, uses critical thinking and problem solving skills, exhibits proficiency in organization and study skills, communicates effectively through speech, writing, technology and active listening 

 

A socially responsible person: has a sense of respect and responsibility for self and others, makes a positive impact on the world through their actions, is aware of local, national, and international events, responds to and models positive leadership, advocates for social justice based on the principles of Catholic social teachings, develops positive social and emotional skills through peaceful conflict resolution 

 

The St. Luke School graduate is one whose attitudes, values, personal and spiritual attributes, are instilled by a community of faith, hope, and love.