FICKETT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

PRIMARY YEARS PROGRAMME ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY

R.N. Fickett Elementary Mission Statement

In a safe and nurturing environment, with collaboration of all stakeholders, we will provide all
students with a quality, rigorous curriculum that develops curious, experienced, and
compassionate learners that think positively and globally.
R.N. Fickett Elementary Vision

A school of excellence that empowers students to become curious, considerate, lifelong
learners who are internationally minded and college and career ready.
ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY

Purpose
Fickett Elementary School believes that modeling, teaching, and practicing academic
honesty is essential to preparing our students for their academic and professional careers.
Even more importantly, practicing academic honesty with our students supports their
development as young men and women who act with integrity, honesty and take
responsibility for their own actions. R.N. Fickett’s Academic Honesty policy is framed by the
IB Learner Profile, most specifically, our students’ goals to be inquirers, knowledgeable, and
principled.
IB defines academic honesty as “a set of values and skills that promote personal integrity
and good practice in teaching, learning, and assessment.” Academic honesty is
acknowledging responsibility for the production of students’ own work, recognition of the
work of others, and maintaining honor and trust in the learning environments of our schools.
We believe that in order to achieve this, it is important that we focus on educating our
students to be principled, to recognize and celebrate authentic student work, and to take
pride in promoting student learning through inquiry, which includes responsible use of
information and communication of original work.
The Academic Honesty Policy is designed to define and clarify the expectations associated
with the submission of authentic work. It provides staff, students, parents, counselors, and
administrators with a common understanding of academic misconduct, defines the
responsibilities of all parties in preventing academic misconduct, and encourages principled
behavior in the learning environment of our schools.
In order to understand appropriate academic honesty practice, it is important to clarify
behavior that can lead to an unfair advantage in academic work, hereby referred to as
“academic misconduct.”

Written: March 11, 2020
Reviewed and Revised: October 20, 2023

Definitions
Academic misconduct includes:

Plagiarism: “The representation, intentionally or unwittingly, of the ideas,
words or work of another person without proper, clear and explicit
acknowledgment.”
Examples of Plagiarism:
● Any representation of others’ work as your own
● Non-original work that is not cited and appropriately referenced in
submissions
● Copying information from a book or a website
● Misuse of quotation marks, paraphrasing, and in text citations which
makes authorship unclear
● Failure to identify the source of elements of nonverbal work (ie.
painting, dance, photo, proof, musical composition, etc.)
● Using online language translators unless explicitly allowed
Collusion: “Supporting academic misconduct by another student, as in
allowing one’s work to be copied or submitted for assessment by another.”
Examples of Collusion:
● Helping someone else cheat both deliberately and through support.
● Allowing your work to be copied and/or submitted by another
student
● Divide and conquer approach where you are not the author of
the entire assignment given by the instructor (if not part of
assignment).
● Representing significantly unequal work as an equal collaboration.
● Writing a paper or doing homework for another student,
both at the time as well as sharing completed work with
students who take a course in the future.
● Sharing information about assessment content and questions with
other students.

Collusion is to be contrasted with collaboration, which we define as “multiple
students actively engaged during the course as well as in the creation of a product
per the assignment guidelines.” It is important to note that teachers must be clear
with assignment guidelines to specify the difference between collaboration and
collusion on a given task.
Cheating and accomplice to cheating: Cheating is behavior that results in a student
making a deliberate choice to gain an unfair advantage in an assessment situation. An

Written: March 11, 2020
Reviewed and Revised: October 20, 2023

accomplice to cheating is someone who makes the deliberate choice to help another
individual cheat. Cheating includes but is not limited to the following:

● copying another student’s work (with or without his/her knowledge);
● copying assessment tasks
● forgery
● using unauthorized notes or other study aids during an assessment
● submitting work as his/her own that has been copied
● communicating with other students during as assessment

Other Acts of Academic Dishonesty:
Duplication of Work: the presentation of the same work for different assessment

components

Unfair Practice: Any other behavior that gives an unfair advantage to a student or that
affects the results of another student.
Examples of unfair practice:
● Falsifying records
● Falsifying data
● Sharing passwords
● Using unauthorized materials
● Disclosing information about assessments
● Altering grades
● Phony citations
● Impersonating another person
● Misconduct during testing times
It is the understanding of all school personnel that when a student puts his or her
name on any assignment, they are submitting it as their own and acknowledging
original ownership.

Roles and Responsibilities in Supporting Academic Honesty
Faculty (including teachers, Student Support Team, administration and support personnel):
● Communicate appropriate collaboration versus collusion with each assignment.
● Teach a recognized citation convention for written and non-written works.
● Demonstrate and model academic honesty in presentations, etc.
● Report and record academic dishonesty through a referral and school notes
● Assure that students in their class understand that when they submit a task as
their own, they are expressing that they have not received nor given aid on
assignments or assessments. Teachers can opt to ask students to use their
signature to validate this point.
● Minimize temptation for academic misconduct in assignments/assessment

Written: March 11, 2020
Reviewed and Revised: October 20, 2023

situations
● Communicate with students, parents, counselors, administrators, about concerns
and academic misconduct offenses
● Involve students in reflection/discussion in the instance of academic misconduct.

Students:

● Confirm understanding of academic honesty with signature on Academic
Honesty Parent/Student Agreement each year
● Report academic misconduct violations to a trusted school employee
● Strive to produce authentic work
● Understand that putting his/her name on an assignment certifies it as his/her
own work, cited appropriately.
● Minimize chances of academic misconduct by balancing time appropriately.
● If an incident of academic misconduct occurs, either intentional or
unintentional, complete a reflection process with the teacher.
● Understand proper citation expectations for assignments
● Ask for guidance when unsure

Administration:

● Support academic honesty policy and investigate all counselor/teacher reports
of academic misconduct.
● Ensure that all staff, students, and parents understand definitions,
responsibilities, and repercussions of academic misconduct
● Ensure the academic honesty policy is implemented consistently throughout the
school.
● Provide staff development and guidance on academic writing and referencing
systems
● Provide teachers with material to guide students in maintaining academic
honesty
● Investigate academic misconduct when necessary.
● Make parent and student contact to reflect on academic misconduct incidents

Parents, guardians, and/or outside support:

● Read and sign the Academic Honesty Parent/Student Agreement.
● Encourage child to practice academic honesty
● Encourage child to cultivate a culture of academic honesty at home and in
school
● Address concerns of academic misconduct with their child and school
personnel if necessary
● Monitor tutors to assure authentic student work

Preventing Academic Misconduct
In order to prevent academic misconduct, Fickett Elementary is dedicated to teaching students
the skills necessary to demonstrate academic honesty. Lessons will be taught through direct
teaching and coaching, specifically in the areas of communication and research skills found in

Written: March 11, 2020
Reviewed and Revised: October 20, 2023

the Approaches to Learning. Students in 5th grade will be taught to cite their work and
acknowledge sources as they complete projects that require research. Students will be guided
through working collaboratively so that all members of a group work equally, and conflicts can
be resolved if they arise.
Repercussions
When academic misconduct occurs, incidents will be addressed by the teacher with the
student. When appropriate, the Director of Student Support Services will become involved and
the incident will be reported to parents, and other administrators. The school will adhere to
consequences as outlined in the school’s discipline policy.
Communication Plan
Fickett Elementary Schools Academic Honesty Policy will be published on the school website
and in the Student Handbook. The policy will be discussed with PYP students and parents
early in the school year, and referred to consistently throughout the school year.
Review of the Academic Honesty Policy
This policy will be reviewed and updated annually by the IB PYP Coordinator, Pedagogical
Lead Team, Administrative Team and Student Support Team.

Sources:
● PYP from Principles to Practice International Baccalaureate Organization.
● Academic Honesty in the IB educational context (2014)
● Daystar Academy Academic Honesty Policy
● Bloomfield Hills School Academic Honesty Policy
● Bunche Middle School Academic Honesty Policy

Written: March 11, 2020
Reviewed and Revised: October 20, 2023