Academic Honesty Policy

Purpose

We value academic integrity and do not permit any form of dishonesty, plagiarism, or deception that unfairly, improperly, or illegally enhances the grade of an individual or group. In both the IB Diploma Programme and the IB Career-Related Program, students are expected to be principled and act with honesty, integrity, and fairness. This means that students are expected to exercise academic honesty in all of their work, and all of their work should be authentic.

What is Academic Misconduct?

Malpractice is defined by IB as any behavior that results in a student or group of students gaining an unfair advantage in their academic work. Malpractice includes, but is not limited to, plagiarism, cheating, and collusion.

Plagiarism is defined as the representation of ideas or works of another person as your own. Terms like “copying”, “borrowing”, and “sharing” can disguise the seriousness of the offense. All of the following are considered to be examples of plagiarism:

• Turning in someone else’s work as your own - copying words or ideas without giving credit
• Failing to use quotation marks when appropriate
• Failure to cite sources correctly
• Paraphrasing without citing
• Copying so many words that it makes of the majority of your work without giving credit
• Failure to identify (cite) elements of a nonverbal work (painting, dance, mathematical proof)
• Unintentional plagiarism is still plagiarism

Cheating is defined as the use of unauthorized assistance during an exam, paper or homework or project. All of the following are considered to be examples of cheating:

• Copying answers from another student on a test or homework
• Allowing another student to copy your work
• Communicating to another student or a 3rd party during a test
• Using unauthorized materials on an assessment or assignment (notes, phone, calculator, etc.)
• Obtaining a copy of an exam in advance without permission
• Obtaining an answer key without permission
• Fabricating data used for an assignment or essay
• Unlawfully altering a grade and trying to resubmit it to an instructor

Collusion is defined as supporting the malpractice of another student or assisting another student’s academic dishonesty. Examples of collusion are:

• Letting a student copy your work
• Writing a paper or doing any assignment or assessment for another student
• Assisting another student in a take home test or project if it is deemed an individual assessment by the instructor
• Sharing test information with a student after you have taken a test but before they have taken it

At OHS we place a high value on honesty and this extends to work submitted for assessment. Our expectations are set out below. All members of the OHS IB community need to be aware that the school treats academic dishonesty as a very serious matter.

The academically honest student:

Does:

• Document all source material in a formal and appropriate manner
• Use direct quotations appropriately
• Understand the concept of plagiarism
• Understand the consequences of cheating regarding both school-based work and external examinations and assessments
• Acknowledge explicitly and appropriately help provided by another person
• Know what constitutes cheating and abides by the rules
• Follow all exam rules

Does Not

• Copy the work of other students, no matter the task
• Give another student his or her work to copy
• Use notes during a test unless Allowed by the teacher or permitted by the examination rules
• Do homework for another student
• Present material written or completed by another student as his or her own
• Purchase and submit pieces written by someone else
• Write essays for other students
• Present artistic or creative work in any medium that has literally been reproduced except in a manner allowed by the teacher or permitted by the examination rules

Roles and Responsibilities

Teachers are responsible for

• Reviewing the Academic Honesty Policy with students
• Provide support and scaffolds in class to help students produce authentic work
• Teach appropriate citing techniques using related style guide
• Demonstrate and model academic honesty
• Have students submit work via Turnitin plagiarism checker as appropriate & communicate problematic results with student, parents & coordinator
• Actively monitor all testing environments
• Report and record any infractions of the Academic Honesty Policy

Students are responsible for

• Reading, understanding and signing the Academic Honesty Policy
• Understanding and using appropriate style guide for their assignments
• Ensure that all work is authentic and properly cited
• Report all incidences of malpractice
• Understand the definitions and consequences of malpractice

Parents are responsible for

• Reading, understanding and signing the Academic Honesty Policy
• Encourage and support their student in producing authentic work
• Encourage and support their student in a culture of academic honesty
• Understand the definitions and consequences of malpractice

Coordinator & Administrator are responsible for

• Ensuring all teachers, parents and students understand what constitutes academic honesty
• Ensuring all policies are posted on the Ogden High International Baccalaureate Website and in the IB Student & Parent Handbook
• Ensuring all policies are translated and posted in Spanish and other languages as requested
• Plan and monitor all IB exams
• Train all IB exam proctors
• Maintain parent contact when investigating an accusation of academic dishonesty
• Document and report any incidence of academic dishonesty directly to IB

Consequences

Administrators, teachers and coordinators will follow specific guidelines as outlined in the IB Handbook of Procedures with a malpractice claim arises. All confirmed cases of malpractice will be reported to IB. Please note that the ultimate responsibility for authentic work rests on the student.

First Instance:

• Student will earn a 50% on the assignment and may not make up the points
• Teacher will conference with the student to determine necessary intervention & support to prevent a second offense
• Teacher will document incident in Educator’s Handbook
• IB Coordinator will notify parents via email

Second instance:

• Student will earn a zero on the assignment and may not make up the points
• Teacher will conference with the student to determine necessary intervention & support to prevent another offense
• Teacher will document the incident in Educator’s Handbook & report to IB Coordinator
• IB Coordinator will report to administration & a parent, teacher, student conference will be held
• Student may fail the course and/or dismissed from the IB program

Policy Use and Review

Ogden High School’s assessment policy is a working document that guides teacher practice and furthurs student development as balanced, whole learners. It will be reviewed and revised yearly, or as necessary, by the school’s pedagogical leadership team (administrators, IB Coordinator, department heads and interested teachers).