Academic Honesty Policy

Wainwright Intermediate Academic Honesty and Plagiarism Policy

At Wainwright Intermediate, we believe that academic integrity is essential to building a community based on fairness, trust, and respect. We are committed to fostering an environment where students demonstrate honesty and uphold ethical practices in all their academic activities. This policy clarifies expectations for academic honesty and outlines the responsibilities of students, teachers, parents, and administrators in maintaining these standards.

Philosophy

To act with integrity and honesty is a core principle at Wainwright Intermediate. Academic honesty means acting with fairness, respect, and responsibility. It is the duty of all students to produce genuine individual and group work, correctly attribute sources, and follow ethical practices during homework and assessments. We aim to cultivate a culture of academic integrity that extends beyond the classroom and prepares students for a successful future.

Definition of Academic Misconduct

Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to, the following behaviors:

  • Use of Unauthorized Materials: Using notes, translation tools, devices, or other course materials during an assessment when not permitted.
  • Plagiarism: Presenting someone else's work as your own, whether it is taken from a person, website, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Large Language Models (LLMs) or another source, without proper acknowledgment.
  • Collusion: Allowing another student to copy or submit your work for assessment or completing work for another student. This includes other individuals completing work for students.
  • Premature Disclosure: Sharing the content of an assessment with others who will take it at a later time.

Plagiarism Policy

Plagiarism refers to using someone else's words, ideas, or work without giving credit. This includes:

  • Turning in someone else's work as your own.
  • Copying words or ideas from another without citing the source, this includes using AI without citation.
  • Changing words or sentence structures but keeping the original meaning without attribution.
  • Copying large portions of a source that make up most of your work, regardless of citation.

To ensure that plagiarism does not occur, students are required to:

Complete an academic honesty lesson at least once a year

Consequences for Academic Misconduct

Consequences for academic misconduct are tiered based on the severity and frequency of the violation. All incidents will follow a structured process, but the consequences may escalate depending on the student’s history of violations.

Tier 1 Consequences (First Offense)

  • The teacher will discuss the issue with the student in person
  • The teacher will notify parents of the issue by telephone and will request that parents also discuss the issue with the student
  • The offense will be documented in Synergy as a reteach
  • The student will be assigned an alternative task to show learning of the concept
  • A score of “0” will be assigned until the alternative assignment is submitted and graded
  • The student will have a reteach of our academic honesty lesson(s)

Tier 2 Consequences (Second Offense)

  • The teacher will discuss the issue with the student in person
  • The teacher will notify parents of the issue by telephone and request a meeting to discuss in person
  • The offense will be documented in Synergy
  • The student will complete a presentation on our academic honesty policy and what it means to them
  • The student will be assigned an alternative task to show learning of the concept and the task will be supervised by a staff member
  • The student will have a reteach of our academic honesty lesson(s)

Tier 3 Consequences (Third and Subsequent Offenses)

  • The teacher will discuss the issue with the student in person
  • The teacher will notify parents of the issue and admin will schedule a meeting
  • The offense will be documented in Synergy
  • The student will write an essay on the academic honesty policy
  • The student will receive a 0 for the assignment and will not have the opportunity to retake it

Responsibilities of Stakeholders

Students:

  • Produce authentic and genuine individual and group work
  • Site sources, acknowledging the work and ideas of others (this includes the work of AI and LLMs)
  • Understand and follow assessment rules
  • Seek help when unsure about proper citation or academic practices
  • Practice academic integrity in all assignments, tests, and projects

Parents and Guardians:

  • Create a supportive environment for students to complete homework independently
  • Encourage honesty and academic integrity
  • Maintain communication with the school regarding academic integrity concerns

Teachers:

  • Clearly communicate collaboration expectations and citation practices for assignments
  • Model academic integrity and ethical research methods
  • Teach methods of research that help students demonstrate academic honesty
  • Report incidents of academic misconduct and work with students to prevent future violations

Administration:

  • Investigate all reports of academic misconduct
  • Ensure the policy is applied consistently across the school
  • Provide guidance on academic integrity and help students develop ethical academic practices

Appeal Process

Students and parents have the right to appeal any decision made under this policy. Appeals should be submitted in writing to the school administration, providing reasons for the appeal and any relevant evidence. The administration will review the appeal and make a final decision.

*Elementary will only operate in tier 1 and tier 2 consequences as they learn how to use AI resources, LLMs, research and site sources. Students will start back over on tier 1 as they enter middle school.