Academic Integrity Policy

Rationale

ISO Academic Integrity policy stems from our school’s vision that aligns with the IB philosophy and which aims to graduate principled, knowledgeable, and lifelong learners who practice ethical behavior, think critically to solve problems, and appreciate and respect varied perspectives on any issue.

Academic integrity is an important dimension in the authentic construction of meaning and learning in all IB programmes. Nowadays, ideas about learning and how knowledge is constructed have changed and students are expected to be active, constructive, independent, yet collaborative. Moreover, access to information through technological innovation has increased, and students are expected to provide evidence of their understanding from research, which will be evaluated against a clear criterion. Therefore, understanding academic honesty is an essential part of the learning process, as it allows students to act with integrity and honesty as they inquire. At ISO, we commit to the practice and education of academic honesty in all aspects of teaching and learning, helping our students to develop and reflect the IB learner attributes in all of their scholarly work.

To inculcate and maintain an ethical culture in our school, we need to ensure that all ISO members have the same understanding of what academic integrity is, what constitutes ethical conduct, and how to translate all this into behavior within and beyond the classroom.

To meet this end, practices are clearly communicated to all ISO community members, detailing the responsibilities of each member, be it teachers, students, and parents, all whose actions in support of academic honesty are integrated and consistent.

Responsibility of Stakeholders Towards Academic Integrity

ISO academic integrity policy ensures that the school’s practices are transparent and consistent. The following is a description of the rights and responsibilities of all members of the school community, what constitutes good practice and misconduct, and what actions are to be taken if there are transgressions.

Students

• Become familiar with the ISO Academic Integrity Policy and IB requirements concerning academic honesty.
• Develop research skills and study habits.
• Develop positive behavior towards work.
• Evaluate the usefulness of sources of information.
• Be transparent about the ideas and work of others.
• Are responsible for producing authentic work.
• Respect and recognize the work of others by using proper citation and referencing.
• Follow an appropriate citation and referencing protocol.
• Develop ATL skills.

Teachers

• Familiarize students with their responsibilities towards academic integrity.
• Set clear expectations for assignments.
• Provide guidance to candidates on how to correctly cite sources.
• Model the academic honesty policy and be role models of academic honesty and integrity.
• Provide students with examples of good exam practice counterbalanced with examples of unacceptable practice.
• Make use of electronic plagiarism detection engines when checking assignments.
• Confirm that, to the best of his or her knowledge, all candidates’ work accepted or submitted for assessment is the authentic work of each candidate.
• Follow the set-out procedures of this policy in any case of academic honesty breach.
• Follow the procedures provided for in this policy in any case of violation of academic integrity.

In cases of academic integrity violations, the school may hold a meeting with the student and the family in the presence of the school’s educational guide. The student signs a pledge not to repeat the transgression and commits to resubmitting the task according to the rules of integrity.

These responsibilities are also reflected in the Assessment Policy, where authentic work and fair evaluation are central.

Programme(s) Coordinator

• Ensures that the school’s academic honesty policy aligns with IB expectations and is periodically reviewed.
• Ensures that students, teachers, and parents/legal guardians clearly understand the expectations regarding academic honesty.
• Ensures that academic integrity policy and procedures are available to all stakeholders.
• Provides professional development to teachers about academic integrity and academic honesty practices.

Librarian

• Familiarize students with research methodologies.
• Train students on the fundamentals of academic integrity.
• Train students on using plagiarism detection engines.
• Provide students with examples of good referencing practice counterbalanced with examples of poor referencing or unacceptable practice.

Parents

• Encourage students to demonstrate their own work and thinking.
• Recognize what constitutes a violation of the academic honesty policy.
• Understand and support the academic honesty policy.
• Cooperate and coordinate with the school in case of any breach to academic honesty.

Academic Honesty in the Primary Years (PYP)

Creating a culture of integrity is a school-wide endeavor that starts from the early years. Teaching, learning and assessment practices work simultaneously to reinforce the concept of academic integrity. Therefore, teachers should create opportunities for students to engage in, employ, and develop the IB learner profile attributes and the students’ approaches to learning at a level appropriate for the age of the student.

The following are some examples of academic honesty practices in the primary years with regards to the approaches to learning: self-management, social, communication, thinking, and research skills. Teachers promote and reinforce these practices throughout the teaching process and for all work, including homework that students are asked to produce.

Culminating Project

When students need to present a culminating project to parents, teachers discuss the importance of academic honesty by reminding them that if a student copies another’s work or allows someone else to complete a project for them, this is a way of not maintaining academic honesty.

Group Work

If students are working together in small groups and the teacher notices that one student is not participating, then 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 or her own ideas. The teacher then 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 teacher also reminds the students of the importance of practicing social, communication, and thinking skills.

Presentation

A student is working on the exhibition, and 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, the student is confused whether or not all sources need to be documented. Teacher, media specialist, classmates, and parents all remind him of the importance and meaning of academic honesty.

Creative Work

When creating a video that features different forms of art, a student decides to use pictures, music, and images that were found on the internet. While reviewing the rubric for the project, the student realizes that he has forgotten to cite the different musical and video sources that have been used. He talks with the classroom teacher who provides examples of an agreed way to reference the items.

Independent Work

To further develop skills related to academic integrity, the school’s library or media specialist has chosen the key concept of responsibility and the PYP attitude of respect as a central theme. The library or media specialist leads discussions across grade 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 Year 1. The library or media specialist explains that the sources are a “road map” for the students, and that it is important to acknowledge the author out of respect. Therefore, students are taught how to create a bibliography or a page of works cited.

Differentiation and support for integrity practices are also outlined in the Inclusion Policy, ensuring all learners can act with integrity.

ISO Academic Integrity Policy Review Cycle

ISO Academic Integrity Policy is designed and studied to be in line with the Standards and Practices of the International Baccalaureate programmes.

The Academic Integrity Policy has been developed by the three sections of the school involving programme coordinators and teachers with the intent of constant future discussion and revision of each component.

Frequency

Reviewed annually, with mid-year reviews during major assessments such as exhibitions and projects.

Process

1. Coordinators lead discussions with teachers to identify integrity issues.
2. Feedback from students (upper PYP) and parents is collected through surveys.
3. Policy is aligned with IB updated publications on academic honesty.

Approval

Coordinators and the Pedagogical Leadership Team review and endorse revisions.

Communication

Updated policy is shared during orientation sessions, in classrooms, and via parent induction.

Bibliography

• International Baccalaureate. Academic honesty in the IB educational context, Cardiff, 2014.
• International Baccalaureate. Academic honesty: guidance for schools, Geneva, 2003.
• International Baccalaureate. Academic integrity, Cardiff, 2019.
• International Baccalaureate. From Principles into Practice. Cardiff, 2015.
• International Baccalaureate. Projects guide (for use from September 2014/January 2015), Cardiff, 2018.