Being Principled - TCIS Academic Honesty Policy

Being Principled
The TCIS Academic Honest Policy

Inquirers Knowledgeable Thinkers Communicators Principled Open-Minded Caring Risk-Takers Balanced Reflective

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Philosophy Statement

Academic Honesty is “a set of values and skills that promote personal integrity and good practice in teaching, learning and assessment” (Academic Honesty: Diploma Programme, p.2 ). Respecting the right and /property of others is essential to becoming a principled, life-long learner who recognizes others’ contributions to their own learning. Addressing concepts related to academic honesty, especially ownership/authorship, intellectual property and authenticity, is an essential component of an education that addresses lifelong learning, personal responsibility, and the development of Christ-like attitudes and actions.

TCIS is committed to helping students - individuals who face a variety of influences in their lives, including such things as social pressures, cultural and family expectations, positive and negative role modelling - undertake academically honest practices in both their personal and academic lives. There are many benefits for a person who undertakes academic honesty. TCIS faculty and staff aim to address the benefits of a variety of academically honest actions, including properly conducting research, giving proper credit to information borrowed from sources, and respecting the integrity of all forms of internal and external assessment at TCIS. This is done by providing students with the knowledge and practical skills necessary to apply the concepts of academic honesty to their work.

Education About and Support for Academic Honesty

Members of the TCIS community strive to live up to the IB Learner Profile “Principled” by acting with “integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness, justice and respect for the dignity of the individual, groups and communities”. (p.1 of IB Learner Profile) To this end, TCIS is committed to providing education about how and why one should be principled as well as to giving students opportunities to develop the skills that a principled person regularly exhibits.

During the evolution of their own personal sense of academic honesty, TCIS students are allowed to learn and grow from their mistakes. TCIS is committed to providing continuous education about the purpose and practices of academic honesty during the various stages of a student’s development, including the articulation between the three IB programmes and between IB programmes and future educational pathways.

TCIS teachers provide opportunities for students to practice appropriate citing and referencing, note-making, and preparing a bibliography or works cited page. In addition, teachers ensure that students understand the concepts of plagiarism, collusion, duplication of work, misconduct during examinations or other non-collaborative assessments, and disclosing information to, or receiving information from, another student.

All TCIS teachers endeavor to (adapted from p. 8-9, 12 of Academic Honesty in the IB Educational Context):

explain what academic honesty means in specific terms and provide clear criteria for measuring academic misconduct, including giving examples
emphasize ethical use of information as students engage in the inquiry process to construct new learning based on what they know and learn from other sources
develop students’ personal responsibility for academic honesty and the ability to recognize what behaviors constitute academic misconduct
helps students and parents see academic honesty as a larger set of values and skills that promote lifelong learning
address approaches to learning (self management skills, social skills, communication skills, thinking skills and research skills) across the curriculum
engage in collaborative planning with other teachers, the Librarians, and the Media Integration Specialists to agree on expectations and teaching strategies for promoting academic honesty
ensure that students adhere to agreements related to the responsible use of information technology and media resources
set age-appropriate expectations and practice regarding references, citations, quotations and paraphrasing
model academically honest practices in the creation of their own teaching materials (e.g., correctly citing images, text etc. used in presentations, example papers, etc.)
emphasize that the process of learning is as important as the final product/outcome generated
give clear guidelines for individual and group work
regularly engage with students during learning activities to provide opportunities for student/teacher interactions that are collaborative as well as evaluative.

In addition,

TCIS PYP teachers endeavor to (adapted from pp.8-9 of Academic Honesty in the IB Educational Context):

foster and encourage attitudes of confidence, independence, integrity, and respect, particularly as they relate to student development personal academic honesty
provide examples of the PYP attitudes when giving examples of academic honesty for students in classroom and homework practices, in group work and in other activities
provide age-appropriate modelling of academic honesty practices
ensure parents are engaged in the process and provided with regular and frequent examples of the academic honesty policy.

TCIS MYP teachers endeavor to (adapted from p. 12 of Academic Honesty in the IB Educational Context):

help students develop strategies to create and consume information in the context of building more adult-like, personal and social identities
see the context of adolescence as one that provides increasing personal, family, and peer pressure to achieve and perform
recognize that ATL are particularly relevant to academic honesty given the clear links to students’ developing competencies in self-management, research and communication
introduce students to the importance of the process journal as a tool that promotes academic honesty
guide and support students in the development of academic honesty in ways that prepare them for further study
help students develop the understandings and the behaviors (e.g., exam preparation skills, understanding the importance of formative work/assessment, etc.) necessary to avoid academic honesty violations in formal high-stakes assessment as well as externally assessed coursework and culminating projects
authenticate student work completed for the Personal Project and for external MYP certification purposes, including assisting students with the use of turnitin.com where needed

TCIS DP teachers endeavor to (adapted from p. 16 of Academic Honesty in the IB Educational Context):

help students understand that, at the DP level, students bear the sole responsibility for any case of academic misconduct in which they are involved
help students to develop formal research skills, sound study habits, and other behaviors that enable them to produce original, authentic work.

These behaviors include but are not limited to:

investigating and evaluating the usefulness of a variety of resources
incorporating and referencing sources within oral and written presentations
developing long-term organizational and self-management skills.

observe all internal deadlines set by the DP Coordinator. [NB: Meeting internal deadlines is beneficial to students as it may allow time for revision prior to the final submission in case questions arise regarding authorship (Academic Honesty: Diploma Programme, p. 8). DP teachers will not allow extensions of internal deadlines without consultation with the DP Coordinator.]
support students in the development of academic honesty in ways that prepare them for further study beyond Secondary School
authenticate student work completed for Internal Assessments, the Extended Essay and all other externally assessed work via means such as submission through turnitin.com, conducting Viva Voce interviews, judging current student work against previous work done by students, etc.
demonstrate for students how the turnitin.com application on Schoology is used prior to submission of student work to the IB
maintain all completed and uncompleted assessments in secure, locked locations
ensure all students are assessed in a classroom environment that is conducive to academic honesty

For example, in a testing situation, there should be

no electronic devices (except those as appropriate, for example, graphing calculators)
no headphones
no watches that have smart phone or calculation capabilities
no pens or other writing utensils that allow for the transfer of information
no talking
no distractions
no information provided on posters that help the student inappropriately
appropriate seating arrangements
and other means conducive to academically honest behaviors.

Student Responsibility for Academic Honesty

TCIS students are expected to produce work that is authentic and a genuine reflection of their understandings, attitudes, skills and overall learning. To this end, TCIS students uphold the highest standards of academic honesty. In the Secondary School, students may be asked to sign an Integrity Pledge before completing a summative assessment, the purpose of which is to encourage and remind students of the importance of academic honesty.

All TCIS students endeavor to:

be principled in all areas of their academic and personal lives
take personal responsibility for their own academic honesty and for recognition of what behaviors constitute academic misconduct (at age-appropriate levels)
see academic honesty as a larger set of values and skills that promote lifelong learning and being principled as a lifelong goal/process
engage in inquiry and ethically use information to construct new learning based on what they know and learn from other sources
develop their approaches to learning (self management skills, social skills, communication skills, thinking skills and research skills) in all of their courses and units of study
engage with other students, teachers, the Librarians, the Media Integration Specialists and the Technology Coordinator to promote academic honesty
adhere to agreements related to the responsible use of information technology and media resources
follow guidelines given for individual and group work
follow age-appropriate expectations and practices regarding references, citations, quotations and paraphrasing.

In addition,

TCIS PYP students endeavor to:

exemplify the IB learner profile and the PYP attitudes that relate to academic honesty in their classroom and homework practices, in group work, and in other activities

understand and follow Elementary School academic honesty guidelines for individual and group work
authenticate their work for the PYP Exhibition.

Furthermore, in PYP Grade K1 to Grade 2, the academically honest student:

DOES

Acknowledge help from parents, older students and friends
Look at and read books and print material in order to learn new information
Summarize key understandings from audio-visual material
Communicate new knowledge in his/her own words
Begin to put information together from several sources into independent ideas and understandings
Understand copying as cheating
With teacher guidance, begin to use keywords to take notes from written or visual materials
Begin to use team work together in groups to share information gathering and presentation with contribution from all group members.

DOES NOT

Present parent or other persons’ work as his or her own (the importance of this is explained to parents)
Copy whole sentences from a book or print material onto his or her own paper
Copy classwork from another student
Pass off another student’s work as his or her own when working in groups.

Students will learn:

To read factual text for information
To distinguish fact from opinion
To identify contents, index, and headings in books
To create guiding questions for form, function, causation and change
Dictionary skills
Scanning for information in simple texts
With teacher guidance, how to find keywords in text
Simple summary skills, both orally and in written form
How to acknowledge both what one knows and what one does not yet know with confidence, while maintaining a sense of self-worth
Simple ways to acknowledge information derived from others
How to work to gather information, share and assimilate ideas and present learning in a group
What constitutes copying.

In PYP Grades 3 to 5, the academically honest student:

DOES

Acknowledge help from parents, older students, friends, and his/her group members

Read from several sources, including print sources, in order to gather information

Take notes in his/her own words, using key words and into paraphrasing skills

Begin to use first person sources and interviews in information gathering

Summarize understandings from audiovisual material in his or own her own words

Write reports and summaries of information in his/her own words, with a developing style of academic language

Acknowledge sources in a bibliography

Is able to assimilate knowledge from several sources into independent ideas and understandings

Understand plagiarism as cheating

Understand that downloading or copying from electronic sources without permission is cheating

Work collaboratively in groups and contributes by sharing information and presenting understandings.

DOES NOT

Present parent or other persons’ work as own (the importance of this is explained to parents)

Present other persons’ work as his or her own (the seriousness of plagiarism is explained)

Copy phrases or sentences from any source as his or her own work

Copy classwork from another student without permission (as in during group or pair work)

Pass off another student’s work as his or her when working in groups

Copy another student’s homework or allow another student to copy his/her homework without permission

Copy from notes or others on tests

Present material that is not true, or fictitious, as fact.

Students learn:

How to organize research independently from sources
To work from guiding questions to organize inquiry and frame research
Research skills for print, audiovisual, and electronic sources
To evaluate sources for fact or opinion
To skim and scan for information
Dictionary and thesaurus skills
To use book, print, and electronic contents and indexes
Basic note-taking skills
Summary skills both orally and in written form
To write drafts from notes and edit and revise drafts in one’s own words
To determine and what one does not yet know and make goals to improve in knowledge or understanding
Simple bibliography format
Use of quotations
Simple interview techniques
Effective group work, sharing, and presentation
What constitutes plagiarism
The relationships between knowledge, responsibility, action, and personal integrity

TCIS MYP students endeavor to:

if asked by a teacher, sign the Integrity Pledge on summative assessments to validate that there has been no academic misconduct during the completion of the assignment: “On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this assignment.”
authenticate their work on the Personal Project and other assessments that are sent to the IB for external moderating or marking
conduct themselves in an academically honest and principled manner when sitting for external IB assessments.

TCIS DP students endeavor to:

if asked by a teacher, sign the Integrity Pledge on summative assessments to to validate that there has been no academic misconduct during the completion of the assignment: “On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this assignment.”
meet all internal deadlines [NB: Meeting these deadlines is beneficial to the student as it may allow time for revision work prior to the final submission, in case questions arise regarding authorship (p.8 of Academic Honesty: Diploma Programme)]
adhere to all regulations outlined in the IB publication “Conduct in the IB Examinations” when sitting for external IB assessments
take sole responsibility for their academic misconduct.

School Responsibility for Academic Honesty

TCIS provides a safe learning environment where expectations and procedures are transparent and fair. The PYP, MYP, and DP Coordinators, along with the Librarians, the Media Integration Specialists and the Technology Coordinator promote Academic Honesty principles and procedures throughout the three IB programmes by providing professional development for teachers and by promoting awareness among students and parents.

The TCIS PYP Coordinator endeavors to:

provide professional development for all PYP teachers on the TCIS Academic Honesty Policy as it relates to the PYP
collaborate with the Librarians, the Media Integration Specialists and the Technology Coordinator to promote the teaching and practice of academic honesty in PYP classrooms and units of study
provide all PYP students and parents with the General Regulations: Primary Years Programme Handout.

The TCIS MYP Coordinator endeavors to:

provide professional development for all MYP teachers on the TCIS Academic Honesty Policy as it relates to the MYP
collaborate with the Librarians, the Media Integration Specialists and the Technology Coordinator to promote the teaching and practice of academic honesty in MYP classrooms and units of study
provide all MYP students and parents with a copy of General Regulations: Middle Years Programme
authenticate student work sent to the IB for MYP certification purposes, including requiring students and supervisors complete the Academic Honesty Form for the Personal Project
ensure that students’ and invigilators’/proctors’ conduct during the MYP on-screen examinations adheres to IB regulations and report misconduct to the IB according to IB regulations.

The TCIS DP Coordinator endeavors to:

provide professional development for all DP teachers on the TCIS Academic Honesty Policy as it relates to the DP
provide all DP students and parents with a copy of General Regulations: Diploma Programme, along with the Academic Honesty in the Diploma Programme flyer.
in conjunction with the Librarians, the Media Integration Specialists and the Technology Coordinator provide instruction and support on how to use turnitin.com and the app for Turnitin on Schoology
communicate expectations for meeting internal deadlines to students, parents and teachers
in conjunction with the TCIS administration, handle any academic misconduct issues that may arise
in conjunction with DP Teachers, the EE Coordinator, and EE Supervisors, authenticate student work completed for Internal Assessments, the Extended Essay and all other externally assessed work
in conjunction with the CAS Coordinator, ensure that students are committed to meaningful experiential learning through the CAS program and accurately represent their experiences/commitments
ensure that students’ and invigilators’/proctors’ conduct during the DP examinations adheres to IB regulations and report misconduct to the IB according to IB regulations.

TCIS Administration endeavors to:

provide support for the collaborative teaching and planning of approaches to learning across the curriculum, including the delivery of skills which promote academic honesty
provide discipline mechanisms to carry out the TCIS Academic Honesty Policy, particularly in relation to academic misconduct
communicate with parents and other stakeholders regarding the TCIS Academic Honesty Policy and practices for dealing with breaches of academic honesty
ensure that the TCIS Academic Honesty Policy is regularly reviewed and that its review involves all relevant stakeholders.

Parent Responsibility for Academic Honesty

TCIS engages parents in the process of promoting academic honesty by regularly providing them with examples of the TCIS Academic Honesty Policy and by sharing with them strategies for ensuring engagement and responsibility with academic honesty on their childrens’ part.

TCIS parents endeavor to:

establish a good level of communication with TCIS so that they understand the requirements of the IB programmes and what is expected of students
understand TCIS expectations and guidelines for academic honesty
help their children develop approaches to learning that can assist them with behaving in an academically honest manner in both their school and personal lives
help their children develop the traits of the IB Learner Profile, particularly being principled
encourage their children to plan their work carefully and provide support with the scheduling of work, particularly if there are many assignments to be completed simultaneously
enable their children to do their own work and encourage them to ask a teacher for advice if they are having difficulty with their work
become familiar with the TCIS Learning Commons website and the resources it contains to assist students with citation of sources and management of inquiry
ensure that any outside support provided for their children (e.g., tutoring) is done in an academically honest manner and does not provide an advantage for their children in relation to the assessments undertaken in IB programmes
ensure that their children understand what constitutes academic misconduct; what are the consequences of academic misconduct; and how these consequences may differ depending upon the nature of the assessment task and the audience for the student work (i.e., internal vs external assessment; IB generated grades vs TCIS grades; etc.)
read and understand the General Regulations document for the IB Programme(s) in which their children are enrolledd

if their child is an IB Diploma student, understand and assist their child with adhering to the Academic Honesty in the Diploma Programme flyer.

Examples of Academic Misconduct

These actions constitute academic misconduct (adapted from p. 3 of Academic Honesty: Diploma Programme):

Plagiarism - the representation of the ideas or work of another person as your own

copying and pasting information from sources without citing the source, including images
paraphrasing information or ideas from sources without citing the source
getting assistance from a tutor/outside helper to the extent that the tutor’s/helper’s ideas are represented as the student’s own ideas.

Inappropriate use of translation devices

use of a dictionary and/or electronic translation device to generate work for the target language of a Language Acquisition class (e.g., write the work in English first and then use Google Translator or another device to translate it into Spanish; etc.)

Collusion - supporting malpractice by another student

allowing your work to be copied by another student
allowing your work to be submitted for assessment by another student.

Duplication of work

submitting prior work as original, current work
submitting the same piece of work or parts of it for different assignments in different DP courses and/or to meet different IB Diploma requirements.

Misconduct during an examination

sharing information during an assessment
receiving information during an assessment
possession of unauthorized material
any other behaviour that results in, or may result in, a student gaining an unfair advantage in one or more assessment components.

Misconduct with disclosure of information

disclosing information to another student about the content of examinations or other non-collaborative assessments
receiving information from another student about the content of examinations or other non-collaborative assessments.

PYP scenarios (adapted from pp.10-11 of Academic Honesty in the IB Educational Context)

Group Work

Scenario: Kindergarten students are working together in small groups. The teacher notices that one student is not participating
Positive Intervention: The teacher has a one-to-one conversation with the student and encourages participation by asking questions and reminding the student of the importance of presenting his/her own ideas. A few moments later, the teacher gently reminds the class of the essential agreements for group work and that every student should have a chance to offer new or different ideas that reflect the creativity and collaboration of the team. The students are also reminded of the importance of practising social, communication and thinking skills.

Inquiry/Learning Commons

Scenario: To further develop skills related to academic honesty, the library/media specialist has chosen the key concept of responsibility and the PYP attitude of respect as a central theme.
Positive Intervention: The Librarian/Media Integration Specialist leads discussions across grade/year levels about how authors create work, and the importance of respecting intellectual property. Students learn that they have the responsibility to cite sources beginning in K1. The Librarian/Media Integration Specialist explains that the sources are a “road map” for the students, and that it is important to acknowledge the author out of respect. Thus, students are taught how to create a bibliography or a page of works cited.

PYP Exhibition

Scenario: A Grade 5 student is working on the exhibition. During the research process, a variety of sources, including books, blogs, internet videos and print articles were accessed. The student has used items from web searches as part of his visual presentation. Since the information is easily available, he is confused about whether or not all sources need to be documented
Positive Intervention: The student reviews the TCIS Academic Honesty Policy. He also asks his classmates for guidance. The classroom teacher, Media Integration Specialist and parents also model and provide regular reminders to all students about the importance and meaning of academic honesty.

MYP scenarios (taken from Academic Honesty in the IB Educational Context, pp.14-15)

Investigation/Data collection/Lab Work

Scenario: As part of a science project, an MYP student has been asked to conduct a series of lab tests but found his results to be inconsistent. He has decided to copy data from his friend, who conducted the same experiment, under the same conditions, and whose observations more clearly confirmed his hypothesis
Positive Intervention: Before the students submit their projects, the teacher discusses the importance of reporting data accurately. Achievement in the task depends on thoughtful analysis, not consistent results across trials or experiments. Copying, creating or manipulating data won’t help students attain a higher achievement level. Scientific thinking relies on the honesty of researchers who design and carry out experiments, and the data they generate.

Work submitted for Language Acquisition class

Scenario: An student in Spanish Language Acquisition Phase 2 has been asked to write directions for how to travel from his home to school. The student writes the instructions in English and then uses Google Translate to convert the instructions in Spanish.
Positive Intervention: Before having the students complete the assignment, the teacher spends time scaffolding the instruction of the various vocabulary and grammatical structures needed when giving someone instructions about how to travel from one place to another. The teacher also provides instruction on when it is appropriate to use a translation device and when it is not. The teacher may also decide to have students give the instructions orally in addition to submitting them as a written assignment.

Group Work

Scenario: An MYP Grade 8 student has been part of a three-person group working on a Humanities project. The student has found it challenging working in a group. One member of his group has copied and pasted material from an unattributed source in material that she was supposed to have created herself
Positive Intervention: The teacher works with the group and especially with the student who copied and pasted the material and is not yet academically proficient in the school’s language of instruction. (In learning a new language, students are often able to recognize relevant content before they can generate their own.) The teacher provides the student with additional opportunities to practise paraphrasing skills, and may use peer-coaching strategies to empower students to work collaboratively when documenting sources.

Personal Project

Scenario: An MYP Grade 10 student is completing her personal project on sustainable transport. However, she changed her idea for the project very late in the learning process. As advised on the academic honesty form for MYP projects, she met with her supervisor three times, and the teacher signed off her work to date. Now the student is concerned that the form does not include any of her current research and decision-making, and her supervisor is unaware of her new direction
Positive Intervention: The supervisor reminds the student about the importance of the process journal, and its purpose: to document progress throughout the project, including developments near the deadline for completion; to record selected, annotated and/or edited research notes; and to maintain a current bibliography. The teacher explains the relevance of the academic honesty form as a form of communication. As long as the supervisor is aware of the student’s progression of ideas throughout the project, meaningfully recorded in the process journal, there is no need for concern.

DP scenarios (adapted from pp.19-20 of Academic Honesty in the IB Educational Context and pp.18-19 of Academic Honesty: Diploma Programme,)

Culminating Task Scenario - English Literature EE

Scenario: A DP student is writing his English extended essay. He has a scheduled meeting with his supervisor on Monday, where he is meant to submit a draft. Having missed his last meeting because he was absent from school due to being sick, he is behind schedule and submits a draft consisting mainly of quotes hastily chosen from internet sites
Positive Intervention: The supervisor reminds the DP student of the importance of formulating his own ideas on the topic and a plan for the essay before consulting other sources. Without this preparation, the extended essay risks being simply a collection of other people’s ideas on the topic, which increases the temptation for the student to pass off others’ ideas as his own.

Group Work Scenario - Psychology Internal Assessment

Scenario: A DP student has been working in a group on her psychology internal assessment. A domineering member of the group is putting pressure on the student to write the reports of the experimental study for everyone in the group. The student being pressurized understands this is inappropriate but wants to be popular with the group
Positive Intervention: The teacher notices the group is being dominated by one member and has a quiet talk with the student, reminding her that, although the data collection was done as a group, each member must write up an individual report. The teacher offers support in communicating this message back to the group.

Oral Presentation Scenario - TOK Presentation

Scenario: A DP student is planning his TOK presentation. In researching the presentation he uses a variety of sources, including books, websites and newspaper articles. He is not sure how to reference these sources in an oral presentation, or even if he needs to do so since it is not a written task. He asks his teacher for advice
Positive Intervention: The teacher advises the student that it is just as crucial to acknowledge sources in an oral presentation as it is in any other piece of work. The teacher suggests several ways in which the student may wish to do this, including verbal or written acknowledgments throughout the presentation, and with a bibliography on the last slide of the PowerPoint®.

Creative Work Scenario - Visual Arts Studio Work

Scenario: A visual arts student is trying to work out if it is acceptable to do a variation on a famous painting as one of her pieces. She is not sure if that would be considered “copying”. She asks her visual arts teacher for advice
Positive Intervention: The teacher advises the student that this is acceptable, as it is common practice for artists to be inspired by, or to adapt, other artists’ ideas. However, the teacher emphasizes that she must explicitly acknowledge the original painting. The teacher suggests titling the piece, “After ... ”, so that it is very clearly attributed.

Independent Work Scenario - ITGS Internal Assessment

Scenario: A DP student is completing her ITGS internal assessment. The task requires her to conduct an interview with a client and to submit a written record of it. When she begins writing her analysis, she realizes that she forgot to ask some questions that would have been helpful. She is tempted to fabricate some responses to these questions, as she feels it would make her analysis and solution stronger, and help her achieve a better mark
Positive Intervention: As the deadline for submitting internal assessments approaches, the teacher initiates discussion with the class on the importance of reporting data accurately, and stresses that each student will be required to sign a cover sheet confirming the authenticity of the work. The student realizes that fabricating her client’s responses could have far-reaching consequences as a case of academic misconduct.

Plagiarism Scenario - Plagiarized work submitted to IB

Scenario: There is clear evidence in the form of source material to support a decision that the candidate has plagiarized text without any attempt to acknowledge the source(s). This includes the use of unacknowledged text in oral examinations and the use of other media, such as graphs, illustrations and data
Principle: If there is clear evidence of plagiarism with no acknowledgment of the source(s), the candidate will be found guilty of malpractice without regard for any alleged lack of intent to plagiarize. A statement from the candidate, teacher or coordinator stating that the copying was the result of an oversight or mistake by the candidate will not be considered as a mitigating factor
Penalty—No grade will be awarded by IB in the subject concerned (NB: This means that a full IB Diploma candidate is no longer eligible for and will not receive an IB Diploma).

Plagiarism Scenario - Text downloaded from the internet

Scenario: A candidate takes text from the Internet and translates it into another language for use in his/her work without acknowledging the source
Positive Intervention: All TCIS DP teachers use the turnitin app on Schoology. The teacher has a conversation with the student reminding him/her that regardless of whether text has been translated by the candidate, the ideas or work of another person must be acknowledged. This is still plagiarism. The teacher does report this to the administration and the consequences as listed in the TCIS Academic Honesty Policy. However, the student reflects on what happened and learns a valuable life-long lesson. Regardless of the language or source, all ideas or work of another person must be acknowledged. The student redoes the assignment and moves forward with a valuable lesson that will serve him/her throughout life.

Procedures for the Reporting, Recording, and Monitoring of Academic Misconduct

PYP Procedures (as described on the H. Clarke Powers School site)

In the PYP:

Any student reported for any type of academic misconduct to the Elementary School Principal will be involved in an investigation process to determine the student’s intent. TCIS recognizes that there are different levels of severity regarding academic misconduct. The investigation will take into consideration the age-appropriateness of the student and consequences will reflect the level of intent. The findings from the investigation will be noted as an academic memo into the student’s personal file for future reference.

MYP and DP Procedures

In the MYP and DP:

teachers will report any type of academic misconduct to the Secondary School Administration (Principal and/or Deputy Principal)

the report will include:

the type of misconduct
details of the type of assessment/task/MYP or DP submission
the nature of the misconduct
evidence of misconduct.

the Secondary School Administration will:

examine the evidence
meet with the teacher and student to discuss the incident, noting all details
contact the parents (parent conference if appropriate)
determine if academic misconduct has occurred.
follow through with appropriate measures, including informing the teacher, student, and parents:

If the student is not in violation of the TCIS Academic Honesty Policy, then the incident will be removed from the student’s record
If the student is in violation of the TCIS Academic Honesty Policy, then the Deputy Principal will follow through with appropriate steps as outlined in the MYP and DP Consequences for Academic Misconduct.

Rights of the Student in the Event of a Breach of Academic Honesty

If a student is suspected of a breach of academic honesty, then he/she has the right to:

PYP (adapted from pp.13-14 General Regulations: Primary Years Programme,)

A student who is suspected of academic misconduct has a right to:

meet with the Elementary School Principal regarding the incident to share his/her perspective
redo the assignment under the guidance of the teacher, the Librarians or other TCIS personnel
request to have a meeting with the Elementary School Principal and his/her parents together
appeal a decision upholding academic misconduct with TCIS Head of School.

MYP (adapted from pp.13-14 of General Regulations: Middle Years Programme)

A student who is suspected of academic misconduct has a right to:

meet with the Secondary School Administration regarding the incident to share his/her perspective
request that the MYP Coordinator not remove the student from the entirety of the current exam session, so that the student may complete all other exams until the academic misconduct investigation is complete
submit a written statement to IB in cases regarding suspected academic misconduct infractions on assessments that have been submitted to IB or that occurred during exam situations
appeal a decision upholding academic misconduct (but not the severity of the penalty).

DP (adapted from pp.13-14 General Regulations: Diploma Programme)

A student who is suspected of academic misconduct has a right to:

meet with the Secondary School Administration regarding the incident to share his/her perspective
request that the DP Coordinator not remove the student from the entirety of the current exam session, so that the student may complete all other exams until the academic misconduct investigation is complete
submit a written statement to IB in cases regarding suspected academic misconduct infractions on assessments that have been submitted to IB or that occurred during exam situations
appeal a decision upholding academic misconduct (but not the severity of the penalty).

Consequences of Academic Misconduct

PYP

Throughout Elementary School, academic dishonesty is treated as a learning opportunity. Instances of verbatim copying or lack of citation are considered first draft material, and students are taught or re-taught the skills needed to rework the material in their own words and to cite quotations. Self evaluation and teacher explanations of rubrics provide methods for reflection on a student’s ability to do academically honest work, and goals will be set by the student or together with the student and teacher to improve skills and attitudes leading to academic honesty. Malpractice is generally considered to be the result of a lack of language and/or research skills and is addressed accordingly. In the event that a student with proficient language skills willfully and deliberately continues malpractice, the following can occur:

The student may be asked to redo the work, but he/she may not receive full credit for the work
The student may have a meeting called between the teacher, parents and student, and ultimately between the principal and parents
In extreme cases the student may be placed on an academic contract or receive in-school/off-campus suspension.

MYP and DP

Violations of the TCIS Academic Honesty Policy with regard to TCIS non-collaborative tasks/assessments will result in the following disciplinary action(s):

1st offense

a zero on the assessment
detention
parent/student conference
student reflection
will be recorded on student’s discipline record.

2nd offense

a zero on the assessment
parent/student conference
suspension
recommendation for Academic and Behavioral Probation and Counseling
student reflection
will be recorded on student’s discipline record.

3rd offense

a zero on the assessment
further suspension
parent/student conference
continued academic and behavioral probation and counseling
student reflection
will be recorded on student’s discipline record.

4th offense

extended suspension
recommendation for long-term suspension until the end of the year
student reflection
will be recorded on student’s discipline record.

Violations of the TCIS Academic Honesty Policy with regard to MYP and DP tasks for submission to the IB (including the MYP Personal Project, DP Internal Assessments, the DP TOK Essay/Presentation, the DP Extended Essay, and other assessment tasks that students can choose to send to the IB) will result in the following disciplinary action(s):

1st offense:

a zero on the assessment
detention
parent/student conference
student reflection
an opportunity to revise/redo the IB assessment task for submission to IB as long as time permits (but no change in TCIS grade)
will be recorded on student’s discipline record.

2nd offense

a zero on the assessment
parent/student conference
suspension
recommendation for Academic and Behavioral Probation and Counseling
no opportunity will be given to redo the IB assessment task for submission to IB (this means that full DP students will not receive an IB Diploma)
student reflection
will be recorded on student’s discipline record.

3rd offense

a zero on the assessment
further suspension
parent/student conference
continued Academic and Behavioral Probation and Counseling
student reflection
will be recorded on student’s discipline record.

4th offense

extended suspension
student reflection
will be recorded on student’s discipline record.

Any infractions related to MYP e-Assessments, DP oral exams, and DP exams will be handled according to the Handbook of Procedures for the respective IB program.

Cumulative Nature of Offenses & University Notification for Serious Infractions

Breaches of academic honesty will be recorded and maintained throughout the students’ Secondary School experience and could affect college recommendations, NHS membership, and other awards. Academic Honesty violations progress from one academic year to the next. Once a student achieves the 3rd level of infractions, s/he may repeat the 3rd level if s/he violates the policy in a future year, rather than proceeding directly to the 4th level.

It is a goal of the Principals and Head of School to maintain sensible control over what discipline records are and are not reported to colleges and universities at the time of application and throughout the senior year. The transcript is the permanent academic record that follows a student. Major suspensions include third offenses of academic integrity, violent or malicious attacks or actions, including electronic, which may harm others or breach security are identified as pertinent to the college admissions officer’s evaluation of students (OACAC Conference, 2006). TCIS reports all major offenses to all colleges on the Secondary School Report along with an explanation of offense. In the instance of a violation after the application period, TCIS sends a notice of violation and explanation of offense to each college and university in which the student applied.

Colleges and universities require that all suspensions are reported when a student is applying for admission. It is expected that students will self-report school suspensions to colleges and universities.

Review of the TCIS Academic Honesty Policy

The TCIS Academic Honesty Policy will be reviewed annually. The review will be led by the IB Program Director and the three IB Programme Coordinators and will be informed by current research surrounding the practices of academic honesty and up-to-date IB publications about academic honesty. Teacher, parent and student feedback on the Policy may also be considered in the review. The final version of the policy will be approved by the TCIS Board of Trustees.

﻿﻿Being PrincipledThe TCIS Academic Honest Policy﻿﻿