Academic Honesty

It is expected that all submitted schoolwork represents the original effort of each individual student. Students, teachers, and parents all serve important roles in promoting academic integrity and encouraging honest academic exploration among students. A student is subject to disciplinary action for any or all forms of academic dishonesty; therefore, it is important students, teachers, and parents understand their roles in the policy outlined below.

The following are examples of academic dishonesty:

• Giving or receiving unauthorized aid on quizzes, tests, exams

• Plagiarism (using someone else’s words or ideas as one’s own)

• Copying someone else’s homework or other work

• Allowing your work to be copied

• Fabrication of data and/or citations

• Group work on individual assignments

• Forging information and presenting it to administrators, teachers, or other staff members

• Turning in the same work in multiple classes without teacher approval

• Parents completing a student’s school work

• Purchasing papers/assignments online

• Cutting and pasting information into assignments without proper citation

• Using notes or reference materials in an unauthorized manner

• Using translation tools on foreign language assignments

Responsibilities of Students, Staff, and Parents

Student Responsibilities: Students will adhere to the guidelines of the academic honesty policy by completing all assignments honestly and of their own accord.

Staff Responsibilities: Teachers will review the academic honesty policy with students and outline the policy’s specific applications to their classes. Teachers and administrators are expected to enforce the academic honesty policy.

Parent Responsibilities: Parents will adopt the guidelines of the academic honesty policy, accept its enforcement, and encourage students to practice academic honesty at school and at home.

Procedures for dealing with alleged academic dishonesty on Effort Assignments

First and Second Violation on an Effort Assignment in Same Class

1. The teacher who observes the alleged dishonesty will discuss the concern with the individual student, preferably not in the presence of other students, and permit the student to respond by providing a verbal statement. The teacher will contact the parents/guardians about the violation.

2. The letter grade “F” (zero) will be issued for the assignment, and the violation is noted in Infinite Campus.

Third Violation on an Effort/Practice Assignment in Same Class

1. Follow the same penalties and procedures as the first and second offenses.

2. The third violation is treated in the same manner as a Knowledge and Skills violation (see below).

Procedures for dealing with alleged academic dishonesty on Knowledge and Skills Assessments

First Violation on a Knowledge and Skills Assessment in Any Class

1. The teacher who observes the alleged dishonesty will discuss the concern with the individual student, preferably not in the presence of other students, and permit the student to respond by providing a written or verbal statement. The teacher will contact the parent/guardian.

2. The letter grade “F” will be issued for the assignment in cases of verified academic dishonesty. If the assessment is summative (of a unit or the course) or deemed by the teacher as essential to receiving credit for the course, the assignment must be redone to teacher satisfaction. The highest grade a student could earn is a 59% on the redone assessment.

3. The teacher will submit a copy of the disciplinary report to an administrator via an Infinite Campus referral. The administrator will conference with the student regarding the violation and contact a parent / guardian.

Second Offense in Any Class (*Within 12 Months of First Offense)

1. Follow the same penalties and procedures as the first offense.

2. The letter grade “F” (zero) may be recommended for the course in case of verified academic dishonesty.

3. The administrator will contact the parent/guardian by phone to participate in a conference to discuss the incidents in question.

Third Offense in Any Class (*Within 12 Months of Second Offense)

1. Follow the same penalties and procedures as the first and offenses.

2. The student will be ineligible for membership in the National Honor Society and for any scholarships controlled or sponsored by the district.

3. Penalties for the third offense will remain in effect for the student’s entire high school career.

NOTE: Students participating in extracurricular activities who violate the academic honesty policy are also in violation of the Activities Code. Please consult the Activities Code or contact the Activities Director for more specific information.

Resources

All students have access to Turn It In, an on-line submission program that determines the level of academic originality of students’ writing and flags instances of academic dishonesty in their work. This program also contains tutorials for identifying and remedying plagiarism.

For more information visit: http://turnitin.com/assets/en_us/media/plagiarism_spectrum.php.

Purdue Online Writing Library (OWL): http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/