Plagiarism  and Academic Honesty Policy: Proof of Authorship

As educators, we strive to nurture students’ critical thinking and individual voices as writers.  Writing assignments and media presentations are key to the learning process because these activities develop students’ thinking and help teachers assess student learning.  

While a variety of tools (such as the Internet and various AI platforms likeChatGP)  are available and helpful in some situations, it is important that students submit work which is their own writing and thinkingーrather than work originating from one of those sources. The work should show authentic student thinking and writing style and fluency that is consistent with their prior work.

Students bear the burden of proof that the writing is their own writing and thinking. If the work submitted does not appear to be student work based on style, vocabulary use, voice, content, or sentence structure, the work will receive a zero with a comment in the grade book:  “Flagged as possible AI, ” or “Flagged as possible Plagiarism.”

At that point, students can earn the credit using these options:  

1.  Provide evidence of research conducted, showing their sources supporting the work submitted.

2.  Provide evidence of the writing process, including rough drafts, outlines, and any other pre-writing work that demonstrates the development of their writing. This evidence must show student thinking and revisions along the way. This can also include a record of the timeline, noting dates of revisions and any peer editors or mentors during the process.  

3.  Complete the assignment (or a portion of it) in the teacher’s classroom, with the new version matching the style and quality of the first submission.

4.  If students do not prove the work is their own, they can redo the assignment from the start for 50% credit.  The new essay must be submitted within two days of its return.