Purpose
Fickett Elementary School believes that modeling, teaching, and practicing academic honesty is essential to preparing our students for their academic and professional careers. Even more importantly, practicing academic honesty with our students supports their development as young men and women who act with integrity, honesty and take responsibility for their own actions. R.N. Fickett’s R.N. Fickett's Academic Integrity Policy is framed by the IB Learner Profile, most specifically, our students’ goals to be inquirers, knowledgeable, and principled.
IB defines academic honesty as “a set of values and skills that promote personal integrity and good practice in teaching, learning, and assessment.” Academic honesty is acknowledging responsibility for the production of students’ own work, recognition of the work of others, and maintaining honor and trust in the learning environments of our schools. We believe that in order to achieve this, it is important that we focus on educating our students to be principled, to recognize and celebrate authentic student work, and to take pride in promoting student learning through inquiry, which includes responsible use of information and communication of original work.
The R.N. Fickett's Academic Integrity Policy is designed to define and clarify the expectations associated with the submission of authentic work. It provides staff, students, parents, counselors, and administrators with a common understanding of academic misconduct, defines the responsibilities of all parties in preventing academic misconduct, and encourages principled behavior in the learning environment of our schools.
In order to understand appropriate academic honesty practice, it is important to clarify behavior that can lead to an unfair advantage in academic work, hereby referred to as “academic misconduct.”
Plagiarism: “The representation, intentionally or unwittingly, of the ideas, words or work of another person without proper, clear and explicit acknowledgment.”
Examples of Plagiarism:
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 which makes authorship unclear
Failure to identify the source of elements of nonverbal work (ie. painting, dance, photo, proof, musical composition, etc.)
Using online language translators unless explicitly allowed
Collusion: “Supporting academic misconduct by another student, as in allowing one’s work to be copied or submitted for assessment by another.”
Examples of Collusion:
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 the difference between collaboration and collusion on a given task.
Cheating and accomplice to cheating: Cheating is behavior that results in a student making a deliberate choice to gain an unfair advantage in an assessment situation. An accomplice to cheating is someone who makes the deliberate choice to help another individual cheat.
Cheating includes but is not limited to the following:
copying another student’s work (with or without his/her knowledge);
copying assessment tasks
forgery
using unauthorized notes or other study aids during an assessment
submitting work as his/her own that has been copied
communicating with other students during as assessment
Other Acts of Academic Dishonesty:
Duplication of Work: the presentation of the same work for different assessment components
Unfair Practice: Any other behavior that gives an unfair advantage to a student or that affects the results of another student.
Examples of unfair practice:
Falsifying records
Falsifying data
Sharing passwords
Using unauthorized materials
Disclosing information about assessments
Altering grades
Phony citations
Impersonating another 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.
Faculty (including teachers, Student Support Team, administration and support personnel):
Communicate appropriate collaboration versus collusion with each assignment.
Teach a recognized citation convention for written and non-written works.
Demonstrate and model academic honesty in presentations, etc.
Report and record academic dishonesty through a referral and school notes
Assure that students in their class understand that when they submit a task as their own, they are expressing that they have not received nor given aid on assignments or assessments. Teachers can opt to ask students to use their signature to validate this point.
Minimize temptation for academic misconduct in assignments/assessment
situations
Communicate with students, parents, counselors, administrators, about concerns and academic misconduct offenses
Involve students in reflection/discussion in the instance of academic misconduct.
Confirm understanding of academic honesty with signature on Academic Honesty Parent/Student Agreement each year
Report academic misconduct violations to a trusted school employee
Strive to produce authentic work
Understand that putting his/her name on an assignment certifies it as his/her own work, cited appropriately.
Minimize chances of academic misconduct by balancing time appropriately.
If an incident of academic misconduct occurs, either intentional or unintentional, complete a reflection process with the teacher.
Understand proper citation expectations for assignments
Ask for guidance when unsure
Support academic integrity policy and investigate all counselor/teacher reports of academic misconduct.
Ensure that all staff, students, and parents understand definitions, responsibilities, and repercussions of academic misconduct
Ensure the academic integrity policy is implemented consistently throughout the school.
Provide staff development and guidance on academic writing and referencing systems
Provide teachers with material to guide students in maintaining academic honesty
Investigate academic misconduct when necessary.
Make parent and student contact to reflect on academic misconduct incidents
Read and sign the Academic Integrity Parent/Student Agreement.
Encourage child to practice academic honesty
Encourage child to cultivate a culture of academic honesty at home and in school
Address concerns of academic misconduct with their child and school personnel if necessary
Monitor tutors to assure authentic student work
In order to prevent academic misconduct, Fickett Elementary is dedicated to teaching students the skills necessary to demonstrate academic honesty. Lessons will be taught through direct teaching and coaching, specifically in the areas of communication and research skills found in the Approaches to Learning. Students in 5th grade will be taught to cite their work and acknowledge sources as they complete projects that require research. Students will be guided through working collaboratively so that all members of a group work equally, and conflicts can be resolved if they arise.
When academic misconduct occurs, incidents will be addressed by the teacher with the student. When appropriate, the Director of Student Support Services will become involved and the incident will be reported to parents, and other administrators. The school will adhere to consequences as outlined in the school’s discipline policy.
R.N. Fickett's Academic Integrity Policy will be published on the school website and in the Student Handbook. The policy will be discussed with PYP students and parents early in the school year, and referred to consistently throughout the school year.
This policy will be reviewed and updated annually by the IB PYP Coordinator, Pedagogical Lead Team, Administrative Team and Student Support Team.
Sources:
PYP from Principles to Practice International Baccalaureate Organization.
Academic Honesty in the IB educational context (2014)
Daystar Academy Academic Integrity Policy
Bloomfield Hills School Academic Integrity Policy
Bunche Middle School Academic Integrity Policy
Updated May 9, 2024