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ACADEMIC INTEGRITY GUIDELINES
A commitment to the principles of academic integrity is essential to the mission of Weston High School. The promotion of independent and original scholarship ensures that students derive the most from their educational experience and their pursuit of knowledge. The Weston High School community believes that when students fully embrace academic integrity, they actively participate in the learning process, ensuring they derive the utmost benefit from their educational experience. Academic integrity is crucial to student learning as it fosters a culture of honesty and responsibility, which are essential for the development of critical thinking and ethical decision making skills.
Regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI), according to the University of Pennsylvania:
The evolution of generative AI brings considerations and concerns about how to ensure that students use these tools ethically in relation to their coursework. Generative AI can be powerful in improving student writing, research, brainstorming and organization. In addition, students will likely be using these tools to generate text and visual content throughout their working lives.
As a result, teachers have a responsibility to set clear guidelines for students around using generative AI in individual courses or assignments. Faculty may forbid students from using it or allow certain uses, such as using it to revise a draft or generate topics, perhaps requiring students to disclose their use. Clarity is crucial to helping students know what is considered academically honest use and what is not, and students should clarify with teachers when there is uncertainty.
Definitions of Academic Misconduct
Cheating and plagiarism are defined as copying another student’s work and claiming it as your own, and/or using another person’s original ideas or writing without giving credit to the true author, and/or using generative AI tools without express permission from the teacher. This may include, but is not limited to:
copying or allowing others to copy a test, paper, homework, computer file, etc.
unauthorized use of study aids, cheat sheets, notes, books, or formulas
unauthorized use of any electronic device or digital resource (i.e., a translator, photomath, Wolfram, AI tools, etc.)
use of invented or false information, research, or bibliographic sources
submitting portions of the same academic work for credit in more than one course without consulting the teacher(s)
unauthorized prior knowledge of an examination
sharing information about test questions or content to other students
Responsibilities
Student Responsibilities:
To maintain and support the academic integrity of the school community by completing all assigned work, activities, and assessments honestly and fairly without engaging in cheating or plagiarism.
To maintain the confidentiality of their assessments
To seek appropriate school support (ie extra help, counselor support, etc.) when facing academic challenges.
To understand the school Academic Integrity guidelines and individual teacher assignment guidelines.
To clarify with the teacher any ambiguities about potential violations of the Academic Integrity guidelines on an assignment.
To ensure that other students do not make inappropriate use of their work.
Teacher Responsibilities:
To clearly review the Academic Integrity expectations at the beginning of the course, present the Academic Integrity guidelines in the syllabus and to present individual teacher assignment guidelines as applicable.
To explain the use of permissible study aids and collaboration in coursework.
To check student papers for plagiarism through a variety of means.
To report any violation of the Academic Integrity Policy to the student’s Assistant Principal and counselor and to take other appropriate action as set forth herein.
To maintain and support the academic integrity of the school community by reporting any observation of academic dishonesty to the appropriate colleague and/or administrator.
Administrator Responsibilities:
To maintain and support the academic integrity of the school community.
To make available to all students, teachers, and parents a copy of the school’s Academic Integrity guidelines.
To enforce appropriate consequences for Academic Integrity Guidelines violations.
To maintain records of Academic Integrity Guidelines violations in the student’s disciplinary record.
School Counselor Responsibilities:
To support the student through the learning process.
To work with the student on underlying causes of academic dishonesty and support them in making better decisions.
To support conversations between student, teacher, family and school administration.
Parent/Guardian Responsibilities:
To support the academic integrity of the school community.
To become knowledgeable of the school Academic Integrity Guidelines and individual teacher guidelines as posted in teacher syllabi on Canvas
To advise the student of the parent’s/guardian’s expectation that the student will comply with the Academic Integrity Guidelines.
To engage in respectful conversations with school staff regarding accountability and consequences for academic integrity violations.
Procedure and Consequences
This process aims to deter violations of academic integrity and to change the behavior of the student through the use of clearly defined consequences.
Category ‘A’ Violations refer to minor assignments and include, but are not limited to:
Copying or sharing any minor assignment, such as a homework assignment (not including tests or quizzes) intended to be done independently.
Collaborating on a minor assignment in a manner inconsistent with the explicit and implicit expectations of the assignment for individual work.
Unauthorized use of artificial intelligence or other electronic tools through the process and/or product of a minor assignment.
Category ‘B’ Violations refer to major assignments and include, but are not limited to:
Any violation on a major assignment (such as tests, quizzes, labs, projects, essays, assignments requiring multiple days to complete, etc.) that is consistent with the descriptions set forth in the Category ‘A’ violations above.
In the case of work plagiarized between students, if it is not clear which student did the original work, and which student plagiarized the work, both students are guilty of a Category ‘B’ violation.
Copying from another student’s work or paper during an exam, test, or quiz.
Talking to or communicating with another student during an exam, test, or quiz.
Using any unauthorized material or device during an exam, test, or quiz (including translators, calculators, electronic sources etc.).
Giving or receiving test information, in any form, to or from students in other periods of the same teacher or same course or from previous school years.
Repetitive lying or deception about completion or submission of work.
Any subsequent offense of a Category ‘A’ violation.
Category ‘C’ Violations include, but are not limited to:
Altering a returned quiz, test, or assignment with the purpose of deceiving the teacher about the student’s performance on that assignment.
Stealing (or photographing) exams, projects, or assignments.
Altering grades on a computer database or in a grade book.
Any second offense of a Category ‘B’ violation.
Consequences
Category A
Category B
or any subsequent offense of Category A
Category C
or any second offense of Category B
The student:
must redo the assignment to evaluate understanding of the material.
will earn partial credit on the redone assignment.
The teacher:
meets with the student to discuss the violation and review the academic integrity guidelines.
works with the school counselor to notify a parent via phone call.
notifies the student’s administrator.
The administrator:
logs the student’s violation in PowerSchool.
sends a letter home regarding the violation
Note: If the student fails to complete the assignment, there may be further consequences.
The student:
must redo the assignment to evaluate understanding of the material.
may receive a zero on the assignment.
serves a detention in the main office, during which they write a reflection that is submitted to their administrator.
The teacher:
meets with the student to discuss the violation and review the academic integrity guidelines.
works with the school counselor to notify a parent via phone call.
notifies the student’s administrator.
The administrator:
logs the student’s violation in PowerSchool.
sends a letter home regarding the violation
notifies the student’s other teachers of the violation.
meets with the student to review the Academic Integrity guidelines.
Note: If the student fails to complete the assignment, there may be further consequences.
The student:
must redo the assignment to evaluate understanding of the material.
may receive a zero on the assignment.
serves a detention in the main office, during which they write a reflection that is submitted to their administrator.
The teacher:
meets with the student to discuss the violation and review the academic integrity guidelines.
works with the school counselor to notify a parent via phone call.
notifies the student’s administrator.
The administrator:
logs the student’s violation in PowerSchool.
sends a letter home regarding the violation
notifies the student’s other teachers of the violation.
meets with the student to review the Academic Integrity guidelines and to discuss additional consequences. This includes ineligibility for any academic or scholastic honor offered by the District for one calendar year from the infraction, and may also include being dropped from the class, being transferred to another class or program, completing a community service project related to academics, being suspended or recommended for expulsion, or other appropriate consequence(s).
Appeals
If a student is determined to have violated the Academic Integrity Guidelines, the student may appeal the decision to the Academic Integrity Committee. The following procedure shall apply to such appeals:
The student must submit a written request for an appeal to the Assistant Principal.
The Assistant Principal sets up a hearing with the Academic Integrity Committee, the teacher, the student, and the student’s parents.
The Committee hears the appeal and renders a decision.
The student, parents, and teacher are notified of the Committee’s decision.
The Committee’s decision is documented in the student’s disciplinary record.
Composition of Academic Integrity Committee: The Academic Integrity Committee shall be appointed by the Principal. The members shall serve for one year. The committee shall consist of five teachers from various departments. For each appeal, the Assistant Principal shall call on three of the Committee members to serve as the panel for that appeal, with their selection designed to minimize conflicts of interest.
The decision of the Academic Integrity Committee may be appealed to the Principal, but only on the basis of new evidence. Such an appeal must be made in writing within five (5) school days of the Committee decision. The Principal’s determination will be documented in the student’s disciplinary record.
Updated 7/30/24
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