Academic Honesty Policy

Statement of Purpose for the IB Academic Honesty Policy

The Hanover High School Honor Code states:

“I have neither given nor received any unauthorized assistance during the completion of this work.”
Students at HHS, regardless of participation in IB courses, are expected to adhere to this code. The code was developed and is aligned with the school’s mission, vision and values statements.

Mission: “Educate for Excellence”

Vision: “HHS students will be successful in a global community”

Values: Honor, Achievement, Work ethic, Knowledge, Solidarity (HAWKS)

The definition of academic misconduct in the IBO publication “General regulations: Diploma Programme” (IBO, 2014) is: “Behaviour (whether deliberate or inadvertent) that results in, or may result in, the candidate or any other candidate gaining an unfair advantage in one or more components of assessment. Behaviour that may disadvantage another candidate is also regarded as academic misconduct.” (General reguations, p. 12-13)
Academic misconduct includes, but is not restricted to, the following:

a. plagiarism—this is defined as the representation, intentionally or unintentionally, of the ideas, words or work of another person without proper, clear and explicit acknowledgment

b. collusion—this is defined as supporting academic misconduct by another candidate, for example, allowing one’s work to be copied or submitted for assessment by another

c. duplication of work—this is defined as the presentation of the same work for different assessment components and/or DP core requirements

d. misconduct during an IB examination (for example, taking unauthorized material into an examination, behaviour that disrupts the examination or distracts other candidates, or communicating with another candidate) e. any other behaviour that gains an unfair advantage for a candidate or that affects the results of another candidate (for example, falsifying a CAS record, disclosure of information to and receipt of information from candidates about the content of an examination paper within 24 hours after a written examination via any form of communication/media). (General regulations, p. 13)

Responsibility of Staff

The IB Coordinator shall

• provide a copy of the IBO’s publication “Academic honesty in the IB educational context” to all IB staff members and ensure they have read it, understand it, and will comply with it.
• communicate expectations of academic honesty to IB staff, students, and parents

Teachers shall

• provide a copy of the IBO’s publication “Effective citing and referencing” to all IB students
• make students aware of what constitutes academic dishonesty in their respective classes.
• make students aware of the consequences of academic dishonesty.
• teach students how to use the words and ideas of others appropriately to support their own oral and written communication.
• be vigilant about preventing and identifying malpractice at all grade levels and in all subjects.
• structure assignments and tests so as to minimize the opportunity for student dishonesty and malpractice. This includes requiring students to submit work to the plagiarism prevention website Turnitin.com (when available).
• read, understand, and comply with the IBO’s “Academic honesty: guidance for schools” publication.

Students shall

• read, understand, and comply with the IBO’s publication “Effective citing and referencing”
• not engage in any form of academic dishonesty at any time, including collusion, duplication of work, plagiarism, and all other forms of cheating.
• learn correct methods of source citation (APA and MLA), including for Internet sources, and ask teachers for guidance. Ignorance of standard practice as taught in the program shall not excuse students’ responsibility for proper source citation.
• ensure that we “appropriately acknowledge any ideas, words, or work of other people” that is submitted (Effective citing and referencing , p. 1 ).
• inform an appropriate staff member and the IB coordinator when they are aware that another IB student or students have demonstrated academic dishonesty.
• work collaboratively only in appropriate circumstances. Students are encouraged to form study groups, but they should always ask their teachers for clarification about what type of collaboration is appropriate before working with other students.

Parents shall

• read, understand, and support the IBO’s “Academic honesty: guidance for schools” publication.
• read, understand, and support the IBO’s “Effective citing and referencing” publication.
• support your child in ensuring that he/she not engage in any form of academic dishonesty at any time, including collusion, duplication of work, plagiarism, and all other forms of cheating.
• review course outlines and teacher expectations for all courses to ensure that each student stays on task and follows required guidelines.

Measures taken to Provide Education and Support

Teachers will demonstrate correct methods of course citations (APA or MLA) and consistently reinforce this in their classrooms. Additionally teachers will use SafeAssign, an online plagiarism tool purchased by the school system, requiring students to submit work.

Examples of behavior that will not be accepted include, but are not limited to the following:

1. Plagiarizing another’s words or ideas (including data downloaded from the internet) in a report, research paper, or extended essay.
2. Looking on someone else’s paper during a test or quiz.
3. Revealing to someone who has not yet taken a test or quiz what the questions or problems are.
4. Neglecting to cite sources for information presented.
5. Allowing another student to copy a test, homework assignment, quiz, project, book report, assignment or take-home test.
6. Misrepresenting the submission of information.
7. Using unauthorized of technological devices to complete, disseminate or reveal information/ answers to self or others. This includes the unauthorized use of electronic/online translators, and editing tools specifically for their Group 2 coursework.

The following are examples that are unique to IB, found in the Handbook of Procedures, 2015:

1. Duplicating work to meet the requirements of more than one assessment component.
2. Fabricating data for an assignment.
3. Takes unauthorized material into an examination room.
4. Disrupting an examination by an act of misconduct, such as distracting another candidate or creating a disturbance
5. Exchanging, supporting, or attempting to support the passing on of information that is or could be related to the examination.
6. Failing to comply with the instructions of the invigilator or other member of the school’s staff responsible for the conduct of the examination.
7. Impersonating another candidate.
8. Stealing examination papers.
9. Disclosing or discussing the content of an examination paper with a person outside the immediate school community within 24 hours after the examination.

Procedures - Reporting, Recording, Monitoring, and Consequences

1. When an honor code violation occurs, the teacher will speak with the student and his/her parent regarding the violation. The student has the option to go before a student-led Honor Council or have a referral go to the Assistant Principal (AP) who oversees the student.
2. If the choice is made to be seen by the AP, the AP determines the punishment for the violation.
3. If the choice is made to go before the Honor Council, the Council will convene to discuss the matter with the associated teacher, student, and AP.
4. The Honor Council will determine the validity of the honor code violation. After appropriate deliberation the council will offer its recommendation(s) which is then be considered final.
5. Possible recommendations include receiving a failing grade on the assignment, failure for the quarter, serving after-school detention or suspension.

Policy Review and Communication

This policy will be under review with input from the IB Coordinator, the IB Faculty and a Hanover High School Administrator. It will incorporate all new IB revisions as they occur, or at least every three years. The policy will be communicated to the school community at the beginning of each new school year through our IB faculty meeting. It will also be posted on the school’s website (www.hcps.us/hhs). In addition, the IBO Publications “Effective citing and referencing” and “Academic honesty in the IB educational context” will be available on the HHS website.