Templeton Elementary

Templeton Elementary Academic Integrity Policy

Philosophy: The Templeton community is committed to the development of inquiring, knowledgeable, caring, globally minded, lifelong learners who positively impact our world. The Learner Profile traits and the Approaches to Learning greatly impact our school’s vision for helping grow inquirers who are principled and reflective, understanding the importance of academic honesty and giving credit to others for their ideas and work. In addition, they take responsibility for their own actions and the consequences that accompany them. They understand intellectual property and use technology tools responsibly. According to the IB’s 2019 policy on Academic Integrity, the three main reasons to establish a strong policy on academic honesty are to maintain fairness, to maintain trust and credibility, and to develop respect for others. We believe the best way to reach these goals is by teaching students the research, writing, and speaking skills they need, how to cite sources to give proper credit to others’ ideas, and the many ways in which the Learner Profile attributes contribute to being a student who produces high quality authentic work and being a person of integrity.

Practices:

• Students and teachers construct essential agreements together to establish a community that values honesty, integrity, collaborative learning, and provides a safe environment for all.
• Teachers serve as role models who promote honesty and integrity.
• Social Emotional Lessons promote respect for self, others and learning, and align with the concept of academic honesty and integrity.
• PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports) uses positive strategies to teach appropriate behaviors and encourage students to practice and succeed in making responsible choices in order to create a positive learning environment.
• The Learner Profile Attributes are used as a basis for establishing a culture of academic integrity throughout the curriculum.
• Students and staff are instructed to credit sources of information, words, music, images and ideas. Age-appropriate instruction is provided to students about how to cite sources and use references and quotations. This comes in the context of units of inquiry.
• Expectations and responsibilities are clearly stated in essential agreements and rubrics when completing work or for participation in collaborative groups.
• Teachers receive yearly training in digital citizenship through district technology professional development offerings.
• Students receive instruction each year in digital citizenship.
• Students and parents sign an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) to ensure that students understand and abide by the district's expectations for the use of information technology and media sources.
• Guardians are aware of the school’s academic honesty policy and play a crucial role in the education process which includes reinforcing the values and importance of academic integrity.

Consequences:

When there are violations of academic honesty, it is our policy to give the student an opportunity to explain how/why the incident occurred. It is our school’s policy to help the student learn from the mistake and given the opportunity to fix it. Often, violations of the academic honesty policy can be attributed to a misunderstanding of the expectations of referencing other’s work, a mismanagement of time, and/or a lack of knowledge of what constitutes plagiarism. We prefer to maintain a supportive environment that allows students to learn while developing the required skills and understanding of good academic practice. If it is decided, after multiple violations and opportunities for reteaching that a consequence is warranted, it will depend on the severity of the situation, the age of the student or the number of instances that have occurred. Some possible consequences include:

• Filling out a reflection form that helps them make connections with the Learner Profile and to make a goal for future authentic work.
• Opportunity to resubmit work.
• Loss of credit for the assignment.
• Loss of privileges.
• Conference with parents, staff and/or administration

Review and Access:

This policy will be reviewed annually by the Principal, Assistant Principal, and IB Templeton Leadership Team. Prior to this meeting teachers will have an opportunity to review the policy. Their input will be shared by a representative on the IB Leadership Team at the review meeting. It is understood that this policy may need to be adjusted based on the requirements of the IB PYP, our school district mandates, and State of Indiana Dept. of Education requirements. This policy will be accessible to all stakeholders through the Templeton website.

Last reviewed May 9, 2022

Sources: “Academic Integrity” International baccalaureate Organization, 2019