Ramona High School
Academic Honesty Code
Commitment
The Ramona High School community is committed to developing students who demonstrate Responsible Citizenship through ethical behavior. (RHS Expected Schoolwide Learning Results, 2004)
Definitions
“Cheating” includes, but is not limited to the following behaviors:
§ Using inappropriate materials or notes not permitted during testing (classroom or standardized)
§ Using cell phones, iPods, MP3 players or any electronic device during testing (classroom or standardized)
§ Talking during a test (classroom or standardized)
§ Looking at another student’s paper during a test (classroom or standardized)
§ Copying another student’s work of any kind or at any time in class, during testing, or as homework
§ Passing off another’s work as your own, including copying a published photo or artwork
§ Falsifying information during research
§ Plagiarism (whole or cut-and-paste); or failing to give credit to the ideas of others (http://www.noodletools.com)
§ Forgery
§ Aiding or failing to stop academic dishonesty with or by others
Emphasis
Each class will create a positive atmosphere that emphasizes academic honesty and discourages cheating by:
§ Discussing the Academic Honesty Code with each group of students, especially at the beginning of the year, and describing issues specific to each class. Topics might include
o Peer pressure
o Family pressure for good grades
o Societal values to succeed and attend college
o Low self-esteem
o Poor time management or study skills
o Different definitions of cheating held by students and teachers
o Disdainful attitude toward relevance of assignments
o California Assembly Bill 307 (in effect July 2007) requires schools to educate students on intellectual property rights and theft
Consequences
First Offense
§ A “0”/no credit for that specific assignment and the same for any person who facilitated the cheating
o “AD” for Academic Dishonesty in Grade Machine
§ Student Teacher conference
§ Parent contact by teacher
§ May result in “Unsatisfactory” citizenship
Repeated Offenses
§ Disciplinary referral
§ Parent conference with teacher and Counselor/Administrator
§ May result in “F” in class
§ May result in “Unsatisfactory” citizenship
Resources
http://www.nocheating.org
http://www.noodletools.com
http://www.turnitin.com
Academic Dishonesty versus Collaborating
By Liz Granquist, RHS Science Teacher
Adapted for the RHS Academic Honesty Code
1. Copying another student’s work is completely unacceptable.
§ When you are caught in the act of copying someone else’s work, both papers will be confiscated. This rule applies whether the work that you were copying was for this class or any other. The parents of both students involved will be contacted, as well as the teacher from whom the assignment originated.
§ When you hand in work that you have copied, both you and the student from whom you copied will be given a ZERO on that assignment.
2. “Working together” and “cheating” are two completely different actions.
§ Students, when caught cheating, often claim “we worked together on this.” There seems to be a great deal of misunderstanding of what “working together” means. “Working together” is when two or more students sit next to each other. Both (or all) of the students have their books, papers, pens, and pencils out and are actively involved in working on the assignment. There is very little conversation between the students. Occasionally, one of the students may ask another to clarify a concept or check to see if the other student agrees with his or her answer. In other words, the students are supporting each others’ effort on the assignment.
§ Some times, a teacher may assign a class to “jigsaw” an assignment. In this instance, each student within a group, or a group within a class, is responsible for one section of an assignment. Each student or group shares the section with the whole group to complete the assignment. This is usually an in-class activity. Jigsawing an assignment that the teacher expects you to complete all on your own is cheating.
§ Cheating is very different from working together. Cheating is when you copy directly from another student’s paper, or when the student dictates an answer to you. It is also definitely cheating when you print out two copies of an assignment done on a computer and give one to a friend. It is cheating if you split up an assignment and copy the other half from a classmate (see “jigsawing” above). Even if you change the font, it is still cheating and both (or all) students involved will be given ZEROS on the assignment and parents will be contacted.
3. It is cheating if you copy assignments from past years’ students.
4. It is cheating if you email an assignment to a friend so that s/he can print it out as if it is her/his own work.
5. Do not cheat on tests. Keep your eyes on your own papers, and never copy answers from other students.
I have read and understand the above information.
Student Signature:______
Date: ______
Parent Signature:______
Date: ______
Student Version