Academic Integrity

HONOR BEFORE GRADES

Students leave Southwest High School with the expectation that their contributions to the world matter.  As stated in our mission statement, “Southwest facilitates opportunities for young people to become principled, open-minded, caring members of society.” As our graduates expect to have their academic prowess, artistic creativity and intellectual property respected, Southwest teachers and students will in turn celebrate and respect the contributions of others.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Students at Southwest High School demonstrate academic integrity by producing work representative of their own efforts and abilities.

Examples of academic integrity include:

• Submission of authentic work based on the student’s individual and original ideas.

• Respecting the intellectual property of others, including other people’s ideas, words, graphs, diagrams, charts, and pictures, photographs, works of music, art, music and/or literature.

• Acknowledging all used sources. It is acceptable to include words, ideas, data, diagrams, tables, graphs, film clips and pictures from books and online sources in assignments. Students must always credit where they have got the information used, both in the body of the written work and
  on the Works Cited page at the end, using the MLA referencing format consistently and accurately.

• Honoring and respecting the intellectual property of others as we expect to have our own achievements and contributions honored.

ACADEMIC MALPRACTICE

Academic malpractice is engaging in behavior resulting in one or more students gaining an unfair

advantage on work produced and/or submitted in an academic setting. Consequences will be imposed

when students are determined to have engaged in behaviors involving academic malpractice.

Examples of academic malpractice include:

• Plagiarism (the use of another’s ideas or words in a paper, project or other assignment without explicit acknowledgement of the author).

• Collusion (allowing one’s work to be copied and/or submitted for assessment by another).

• Duplication of work (representing another student’s work as one’s own and/or copying from another student’s assignment/exam paper).

• Unauthorized help or collaboration on assignments completed in and out of the classroom (e.g. take-home exams, projects, essays. etc…).

• Using prohibited aides on assignments/exams (notes, dictionaries, cell phones, social media, etc…).

Academic malpractice within a subject area will be intentionally taught by the classroom teacher and questions regarding misconduct within a subject area will be answered by the student’s classroom teacher.

Consequences

Individual infractions of academic honesty is not acceptable; therefore appropriate consequences will be imposed with the intent that the student will learn from his/her mistakes and not exhibit dishonest behavior in the future. Infractions of academic honesty are cumulative during the student’s attendance at Southwest High School. Repeated and infractions across multiple classes may be treated at a higher level. 

Consequences include any of the following:

1. Initial steps for the first infraction include the:

   • Teacher will meet with the student to understand the situation and counsel the student as  necessary.

   • Teacher will inform the DP, CP, or MYP coordinator, as appropriate, given the grade level of the student.

   • The appropriate coordinator will document and file the first infraction and inform the appropriate Assistant Principal.

   • Teacher informs the parent/guardian(s) of the situation.

   • Student redoes a different version of the assignment/assessment before or after school within 5 school days of the date the assignment/assessment was returned. Refusal to complete the assignment/assessment within the stated timeframe will result in a “0” in the grade book.

2. Initial steps for the second infraction include the:

   • Teacher will complete the Teacher Report of the Student Engagement referral.

   • Student will complete the Student Reflection section of the Student Engagement referral.

   • Teacher will submit a Student Engagement Referral to the appropriate Assistant Principal.

   • Assistant Principal will notify parent/guardian in a timely manner.

   • Teacher will assign a zero for the work in question.

   • Assistant Principal will notify the appropriate counselor and coordinator.

   • Assistant Principal will document the Student Engagement Referral in Discovery.

3. Third infraction will include the:

   • Assistant Principal will schedule and conduct a conference with the student, parent/guardian, teacher, and other staff as deemed appropriate.

   • Assistant Principal will notify the appropriate counselor and coordinator of the infraction.

   • Assistant Principal will document the infraction.

4. Further infractions may include one or more of the following:

   • Removal from the National Honor Society (NHS), if applicable.

   • A failing grade in the course where the infractions occurred.

   • Suspension from extra-curricular activities, including sports.

   • Ineligibility from participation in IB end-of-course exams.

   • Reporting of academic misconduct to the appropriate college or university, if applicable.

   • Other appropriate consequences as determined by the administrator.

5. Malpractice for Diploma Programme candidates as defined by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO, 2007) shall be reported to and investigated by International Baccalaureate with cooperation by school administration, the IB MYP (9, 10) or DP/CP coordinator (11,12), and the teacher(s) and student(s) involved.

Appeal Process

An Appeals Committee will be formed which will include administrator(s), counselor(s), teacher(s), parent(s), and students(s). The appeals committee will meet as needed to consider a student’s request to appeal an academic honesty infraction.   If a student disagrees with the stated academic dishonesty infraction the following process should be

followed:

1. The student should complete an Appeal Form and turn it into his/her Assistant Principal.

2. The Assistant Principal will review the form to determine the next steps which may include:

   1. a meeting with the student, teacher, and parent/guardian(s) to resolve the situation, or if this situation was not able to be resolved;

   2. a meeting with the Appeals Committee where the student will present his/her case to the appeals committee.

   3. c. A decision will be made by the Appeals Committee to either uphold the infraction and consequences given or to lift the infraction from the student’s record.

3. The Appeals Committee will write a summary report of their decision which will be given to the  student, teacher, DP, CP, or MYP coordinator, and Assistant Principal.

4. If necessary, the DP, CP, or MYP coordinator will file a report to the International Baccalaureate Organization.

Responsibilities

Southwest believes that promoting academic integrity is the responsibility of the entire school community.

Commitment on the part of the school community will facilitate a healthy respect among students for the value of academic integrity. In such an environment, students will know that teachers, administrators, and parents/guardians will hold them accountable for any act of academic malpractice.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Student ➢ Ensure all work is authentic.

  • Work and ideas of others are properly acknowledged

  • Recognize that honor is more important than grades

• Parent ➢ Encourage planning and completion of assignments

  • Let your son or daughter do their own work

  • Communicate with the teacher and school to gain understanding of expectations

  • Encourage your son or daughter to seek advice from their teacher if they are having difficulty

• Teacher ➢ Model and provide instruction on how to properly acknowledge the work and ideas of others.

  • Explain what constitutes academic misconduct in their classroom

  • Warn students of the consequences of academic misconduct

  • Confirm that student work is authentic to the best of their knowledge

  • Act on and support the school’s Academic Integrity policy

• Counselor ➢ Know what constitutes academic malpractice according to the IBO

  • Act on and support the school’s Academic Integrity policy

  • Report academic misconduct to the appropriate college and/or university, if applicable

• Administration ➢ Know what constitutes academic malpractice according to the IBO

  • Provide resources and time for professional development on items related to the Academic Honesty policy

  •  fully support the IB in the prevention, detection, and investigation of malpractice in the Diploma Programme

  • Act on and support the school’s Academic Integrity policy

• Appeals Committee Know what constitutes academic malpractice according to the IBO

  • Schedule an Appeals Meeting in collaboration with the student’s Assistant Principal who received the Appeal form

  • Hold the Appeals Meeting

  • Make a decision based on the information provided by the student at the meeting

  • Write a summary report of the decision with a rationale as to why the decision was made

  •  Provide a copy of the summary report to the student, teacher, DP, CP, or MYP Coordinator, and the student’s Assistant Principal

Communication

This policy shall be available to students, parents, and staff on a school district maintained website. A version of this policy will be in the student handbook and a signature confirming each student has read and understands the academic integrity policy will be completed and collected on an annual basis. Other modes of communication will include instruction provided by teachers regarding the policy, teachers or a student led group will introduce policy to all incoming 9th grade students, and IB MYP, CP, and DP coordinators will provide students/parents/guardians information at all relevant meetings.

Policy Review

This policy will be reviewed by the IB committee on an annual basis for possible revision and to increase opportunities for general awareness and ownership.

Bibliography

International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). 2009; revised in 2011. Academic Honesty.

http://www.ibo.org

International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). 2014 Academic Honesty in the IB Educational Context.

http://www.ibo.org