The DAHS English Department collaborated and created a procedure to help deal with the rising number of cheating and plagiarism issues in our classrooms and with our assignments. Many other teachers in the school have similar policies. We just wanted to have one procedure for our entire department that we could communicate with parents. The procedures are outlined below. Students will be directed to this page during the first week of school and will be held accountable for incidents of cheating and plagiarism from that point on.

This is not a new concept. In the past few years there have been numerous examples of such policies in the news. Perhaps the most well known example occurred several years ago at the University of Virginia where over 100 students were punished for turning in duplicate essays (over a 5 year period). Punishments ranged from suspensions, to expulsions, to revoked degrees (Yep! They graduated and the University of Virginia took their diplomas away!).

Examples of cheating from my own classroom include (but are not limited to):

1. Copying another's homework.

2. Essays written or planned by someone other than the student.

3. Assignments/projects completed by someone other than the student.

4. Summaries copied or paraphrased from the internet.

5. Assignments/projects with ideas taken from internet websites.

The assignments students have in my class are to provide opportunities for them to practice skills, reinforce content, or think independently. Students who cheat on these assignments are missing those opportunities. I expect all work completed for my classes to be the student's OWN ideas. I can help students who doesn't understand; but I won't know they don't understand if the work I see is not theirs!

DAHS Academic Integrity and Plagiarism Procedures

A learning environment is based on trust, honesty, and integrity. Any form of academic dishonesty that violates or devalues the educational process is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

Violation against academic honesty includes but is not limited to copying and submitting another’s homework as one’s own as well as cheating on an assignment, paper, quiz, or test. Cheating is defined as obtaining or giving information that assists one’s own or another’s performance.

First Offense:

• Zero for all participants in the assignment without opportunity for make-up

• Parent contact by teacher

• Discipline write-up warning

• Meeting with administrator, teacher, and student (parent, if requested) to discuss the issue

• Removal from or denied membership to National Honor Society

Subsequent Offenses:

• All of the above

• Suspension (length to be determined by administration – 1 day minimum)

Due to the weight of some assignments, a student who receives a zero could fail the course for the marking period.

Below is a definition of plagiarism. Plagiarism is actually considered THEFT of intellectual property in the real world. At DAHS, we have included it with cheating.

Plagiarism

The writing of a paper is an important aspect of the educational experience. Plagiarism refers to the presentation of another person’s ideas, theories, opinions or words/phrases as one’s own. To avoid plagiarism, all ideas gained from research and sources must be cited. Plagiarism may be as blatant as the direct copying of quotations or whole papers, or as subtle as the failure to cite an author’s ideas or interpretations – whether in print, electronic, verbal, audio and/or visual form. These actions are strictly forbidden and represent contempt, both for the original author and for the audience to whom the stolen ideas are presented.

Advice:

• Prior to doing any research project, be sure that you are perfectly clear as to the method that your teacher wants you to use when citing the sources you use, the number of sources to be used, and the types of sources to be used.

• If you are not sure about the use of a particular source or the need to cite the source, ask your teacher.

• Ignorance is not an acceptable excuse for plagiarism.