I. Purpose
At Ranchview High School and Barbara Bush Middle School, we believe in high achievement for all students and that academic honesty should be maintained at all times in support of that goal. “Academic honesty must be seen as a set of values and skills that promote personal integrity and good practice in teaching, learning and assessment. It is influenced and shaped by a variety of factors including peer pressure, culture, parental expectations, role modeling and taught skills.” (IB Diploma Programme Academic Honesty, July 2011) The IB mission statement strives to create lifelong learners who are caring and respectful while creating a better more peaceful world. IB students shall be knowledgeable, principled thinkers according to the Learner Profile in order to better understand the importance of academic honesty while honoring the work and intellectual properties of others.
- Knowledgeable – We develop and use conceptual understanding, exploring and knowledge across a range of disciplines. We engage with issues and ideas that have local and global significance.
- Thinkers – We use critical and creative thinking skills to analyze and take responsible action on complex problems. We exercise initiative in making reasoned, ethical decisions.
- Principled – We act with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness and justice, and with respect for the dignity and rights of people everywhere. We take responsibility for our actions and their
consequences.
II. Definitions (from MYP Principles to Practice, 2014)
Plagiarism – the representation, intentionally or unwittingly, of the ideas, words or work of another person without proper, clear and explicit acknowledgment.
Collaboration – working together on a common aim with shared information, which is an open and cooperative behavior that does not result in allowing one’s work to be copied or submitted for assessment by another.
Collusion – when a student uses fellow learners as an unattributed source.
Intellectual property rights – patents, registered designs, trademarks, moral rights and copyright.
Paraphrasing – The rewording of text to give meaning.
Duplication of work – The presentation of the same work for different assessment components and/or IB requirements.
Authentic piece of work – Work that is based on the student’s individual and original ideas, with the ideas and work of others fully acknowledged.
Academic Misconduct – A behavior that results in or may result in the student or another student gaining an unfair advantage in one or more assignment component.
III. Academic Honesty Policy Requirements
It is the role of the school to:
- Ensure communication about the policy to parents, students and teachers.
- Promote values and skills of personal integrity and good practice in teaching, learning and assessment.
- Support vertical alignment of age appropriate teaching practices so that all students gain understanding of intellectual property and authenticity.
- Maintain records of instances of academic malpractice and deliver appropriate consequences for each instance in consultation with student, parent, and appropriate school personnel.
It is the role of the teacher to:
- Be knowledgeable about the definitions related to academic honesty and teach students those definitions as relates to their discipline.
- Instruct students in the necessity and practice of paraphrasing, summarizing, quoting and citing using appropriate formats.
- Use the skills of Approaches to Learning including self-management, social, communication, research and thinking throughout the program to develop positive, academic practice.
- Report instances of academic malpractice to the Heads of Schools and IB Coordinator for appropriate action to be taken with student and in notifying parent.
It is the role of the student to:
- Be knowledgeable about the definitions related to academic honesty and submit only his/her own work.
- Willingly practice paraphrasing, summarizing, quoting and citing using appropriate formats for various assignments.
- Use the skills of Approaches to Learning including self-management, social, communication, research and thinking throughout the program to support positive, academic practice in themselves and their peers.
It is the role of the parent to:
- Be aware of the Academic Honesty Policy and guide students’ understanding and adherence to the policy
- Expect students to produce independent work that is their own intellectual property
IV. Consequences of Academic Malpractice
The determination that a student had engaged in academic dishonesty shall be based on the judgment of the classroom teacher or other supervising professional employee, taking into consideration written materials, observation or information from students. Incidents of malpractice will be documented and students can receive any consequence that is aligned with the CFBISD policy.
V. Additional Pages
- Samples of citation taught to students
- BBMS teachers scaffold MLA citation style in years 1-3 to prepare students for years 4-5 at RHS
- Scenarios of what constitutes academic misconduct
- Clarification of distinction between legitimate collaboration and unacceptable collusion