Cheating/Plagiarism Policy

Academic Integrity

The purpose of education is to develop students who are lifelong learners; dishonesty undermines and inhibits this process. No form of plagiarism or cheating is acceptable. To ensure the academic integrity of all students at Northern Valley Regional High School, this honor code has been created to promote honesty and responsibility while fostering a community of trust. Northern Valley students have the right to expect academic integrity from their peers.


I. Defining Cheating

Cheating is defined as any misrepresentation of one’s self or one’s academic work. Unless expressly allowed by the Department, cheating includes, but is not limited to:

  • Communicating with or copying from another student regarding an examination or assessment

  • Introducing any unauthorized materials (written, printed or blank) into a classroom or examination room

  • Introducing any electronically stored information into a classroom or examination room

  • Obtaining a copy of an unseen written examination prior to the date and time of its authorized release

  • Gaining access to unauthorized material relating to an assessment

  • Colluding with another person by submitting work done with another person as entirely one’s own work OR Collaborating on work that is not specifically assigned as group work OR knowingly allowing another student to copy one’s own work to be submitted as that student’s work

  • Falsifying data by presenting data of lab reports, projects etc. as one’s own when this data is based on experimental work conducted by another party or obtained by unfair means

  • Assuming the identity of another person or having another person assume one’s own identity with the intention of deceiving or gaining unfair advantage.

  • Plagiarizing by passing off the writings and ideas of others as one’s own. Plagiarism includes buying, stealing or borrowing a paper, hiring someone to write a paper, copying from another source without citing, using a source too closely when paraphrasing, copying or building on someone’s ideas without citation.

  • **Any portion of the College Board/AP Capstone exam grade on a performance task will be subject to the College Board/AP Capstone policy on plagiarism and falsification or fabrication of information.


II. Procedures

If it is determined by a teacher that an incident of cheating has occurred, the teacher will:

  • Discuss the incident with the student and review the consequences of cheating. Contact the student’s parent or guardian.

  • Notify the assistant principal or principal with a student discipline form.

  • Attend a conference including the student, guidance counselor, supervisor, parent or guardian to discuss the incident and determine how best to help the student, if such a conference is necessary.


III. Consequences

    • If a student is guilty of cheating or plagiarizing, the student is still expected to demonstrate his or her academic competency by redoing the assignment/assessment or another performance task in a timely manner.

    • 12 disciplinary points and a minimum of 10 detentions will be assigned by the administrator on an incident by incident basis. Additional actions will result for second and third offenses.

    • The timeline to complete the work will be established by the teacher, guidance counselor and/or case manager, assistant principal, and student.

    • The student may be required to attend extra help sessions in order to acquire the skills needed to complete the work in an honest manner.

    • The corrected assignment/assessment/task will be graded and the student will receive a maximum of up to 65% of the grade on the assignment or assessment (i.e. if a student earns a grade of 90% on the re-do work, they will receive 58.5% in PowerSchool).

    • Failure to take advantage of the opportunity to demonstrate academic competency will result in a zero for that assignment/assessment.

    • Any personal/academic misrepresentation will be recorded in the student’s discipline record by the assistant principal or principal.


In addition to parental notification, the following will apply on an individual basis by the nature of the offense:

    • Disciplinary points will be assigned by the administrator on an incident by incident basis. An accumulation of points will result in detentions or in-school suspensions. Additional actions will result for second and third offenses.

    • Any student leader (e.g. captain, officer, editor, class representative) who violates these standards may be removed from that position for the remainder of the school year at the discretion of the principal. If removed he/she will not receive transcript credit for that leadership position.

    • Any student caught cheating or plagiarizing may be prevented from being inducted into the National Honor Society. The Faculty Council of the National Honor Society may recommend the removal of a student currently in the National Honor Society who has been caught cheating or plagiarizing. The Principal will review all recommendations made by the Faculty Council. If the recommendation is upheld by the Principal, National Honor Society recognition will be removed from the transcript.

    • Depending on the circumstances, additional consequences may be imposed at the discretion of the principal.


**The student’s discipline record will be provided to a college/ university upon request.***