RCPS Artificial Intelligence

Planning for Academic Integrity and AI

Radford City Public Schools are dedicated to fostering academic integrity as a core value in every aspect of school life. Educators play a key role in this effort by assessing students’ understanding of integrity and creating meaningful experiences to deepen their grasp of these principles. By actively modeling and teaching academic integrity, educators build a culture where these values are consistently practiced, aligning with the VDOE Profile of a Graduate Expectations to encourage respect and ethical behavior.

This commitment spans all classrooms (K-12), subjects, and assessments. Educators are encouraged to consider how factors like power dynamics, privilege, and systemic biases may affect student behavior, creating learning spaces where every student feels respected and motivated to succeed honestly.
By understanding and addressing issues such as cheating and plagiarism, educators can cultivate an environment that prioritizes integrity as an essential element of the learning experience.

Planning Instruction

All educators have a role to play in an effective academic integrity program. Collaboration and communication between administrators, curriculum leaders, and all educators are essential.

School Leaders

Administrators and curriculum leaders can effectively integrate academic integrity into the school community, especially with consideration for AI:

Include a clear academic integrity statement in the school code of conduct.
Reinforce this statement in student planners or agendas.
Display academic integrity posters in classrooms, hallways, and offices.
Distribute an academic integrity brochure to parents/guardians.
Collaborate with the school council to promote academic integrity.
Develop a school style guide for consistent referencing practices.
Ensure new students and families receive information on academic integrity.
Facilitate interdepartmental discussions on academic integrity.
Create subject-specific continuums for academic integrity skills within departments.
Offer professional development on academic integrity for educators.
Support collaborative planning and assessment within departments.
Encourage collaboration between teacher-librarians and classroom educators.
Model academic integrity in school-created content (presentations, websites, brochures).
Provide resources and databases to support research and teaching on academic integrity.

Educators

To promote academic integrity, educators can:

Use Universal Design principles and focus on learning processes over products.
Define learning outcomes, success criteria, and approved tools.
Personalize tasks to student needs, interests, and abilities.
Design inquiry-based tasks encouraging creativity and insight.
Include a statement that assignments may require a follow-up discussion to enhance critical thinking.
Clearly communicate rules for online tools and AI, requiring teacher approval.
Involve students in lesson design and use hands-on activities for observation, collaboration, and critical thinking.
Emphasize ongoing assessments and regular feedback.
Highlight research within evaluation criteria and tailor assessments to student strengths.
Align summative evaluations with familiar practices, including digital tasks.
Choose engaging, relevant topics that support identity exploration and peer collaboration.
Use student-educator conferencing to showcase learning outcomes.
Consult the RCPS Guide to Artificial Intelligence for assessments.
Ensure resources and expectations are clear and accessible.
Integrate process work in Language Arts (writing process), Science (scientific inquiry), Mathematics (problem-solving strategies), and the Arts (creative process), with a focus on assessing growth and approach as well as final outcomes.

Establishing Clear Academic Integrity Procedures

Developing an effective academic integrity framework goes beyond planning; it requires proactive measures that both discourage dishonesty and provide opportunities for authentic learning. This approach sets clear guidelines for academic integrity while outlining responses to academic misconduct.

The responsibility for creating and communicating school-wide practices for academic integrity rests primarily with the principal and leadership team. These guidelines are shared throughout the school community via the school code of conduct. Additionally, educators reinforce these standards within their departments and classrooms.

With the growing role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education, it’s essential that academic integrity guidelines address both the educational benefits and the risks of AI use. Educators should encourage ethical AI use in academic work, helping students understand the value of integrity and the boundaries of honest conduct.

By incorporating digital and AI considerations, schools can foster a culture of integrity, preparing students for responsible engagement in both academic and professional settings.

Can students use AI to enhance their work?
The OCSB supports students’ use of AI tools to enrich their work—under teacher guidance, within the task’s scope, and with proper citation. However, AI should not replace students’ own demonstration of learning.

RCPS Guiding AI Principles

Guiding Principles

Humane & Ethical Use: RCPS promotes responsible AI use, emphasizing ethical decision-making, accountability, and respect for privacy. Students and teachers use AI as a collaborative tool that supports learning without replacing effort or original work. Teachers will guide students to maintain academic integrity.
Support for Teaching & Learning: AI enhances learning by supporting student achievement and teacher expertise, allowing for personalized instruction. Teachers remain central to instruction, with AI as a complementary tool for innovation and efficiency.
Transparency: RCPS ensures AI is transparent and understandable, with clear explanations of its use and outputs. Stakeholders are informed about AI’s role in educational processes.
Equitable Access: Generative AI fosters equitable access to resources, offering all students opportunities for success and promoting an inclusive learning environment.
Privacy & Security: Protecting student data is a priority. AI use at RCPS meets strict privacy and security standards to safeguard personal information.
Continuous Improvement: RCPS is committed to ongoing improvement of AI practices, engaging stakeholders, providing professional development, and adapting to evolving ethical standards.

Implementation Guidelines

Use of AI in Education:AI tools will be integrated to enhance teaching, school administration, and student learning, ensuring they align with RCPS's educational goals. RCPS will prioritize AI tools designed for K-12 education, ensuring compatibility with the existing technology infrastructure.
Defining Original Student Work: Students are encouraged to use AI as a helper to explore ideas and conduct research, but submitted work should reflect their own understanding and effort. AI should augment learning, not replace it.

Conclusion
RCPS recognizes the transformative potential of Generative AI while remaining cautious of its risks. Through responsible use, continuous improvement, and active collaboration, RCPS aims to prepare students to succeed in an AI-driven world, ensuring that AI enhances education while upholding core values and ethical standards.

Obstacles to Learning

Various obstacles can impede learning. Students may resort to cheating or plagiarism for a multitude of reasons, such as societal pressure, feelings of inadequacy, lack of understanding, and educational practices that inadvertently encourage dishonesty. To foster academic integrity, educators must grasp these factors and intentionally address them in both classroom and school discussions.

Feelings of Inadequacy

Students facing academic challenges may feel overwhelmed and view unethical behavior as their sole recourse. Educators bear the responsibility to support these students and guide them and their parents/guardians towards making suitable course selections.

Lack of Knowledge

Educators should recognize students may need guidance to fully understand the principles of academic honesty, including the necessary information and skills. Instances of academic dishonesty often arise from gaps in literacy, research, note-taking, organizational, and time-management skills, rather than deliberate misconduct. These challenges can be further complicated by a lack of knowledge about documentation and citation practices, as well as intellectual property and public domain concepts.
It is vital for educators to proactively provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to uphold academic integrity. This responsibility extends to recognizing and addressing the needs of all students, particularly those with diagnosed learning disabilities and those facing socio-cultural and linguistic barriers.

Societal Pressure

Societal pressures, underscored by popular culture's prioritization of success and the acceptance of intense competition, foster a mindset where the outcomes justify the means, implicitly condoning cheating. This undue emphasis on competition and achievement may compel students towards unethical academic decisions. Educators play a crucial role in mitigating these pressures by providing support, encouragement, and alternative paths for students who feel overwhelmed.

Practices That Invite Dishonesty

Educators must critically assess the design and objectives of their tasks to discourage academic dishonesty. The presence of inauthentic tasks, unrealistic deadlines, flawed tasks, and unsupervised work can inadvertently encourage dishonest behaviors. Collaborative planning of significant tasks and assessments with other educators is encouraged.
Leverage guidelines from resources like "Think Literacy: Cross Curricular Approaches Grades 7-12," and "Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools."

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