Community Handbook: Academic Integrity

Supporting academic integrity in ourselves and one another is one way to show respect and dignity to individuals, ideas, environments, and property. Cheating, lying, fraud, misrepresentation, plagiarism, and other dishonest behaviors jeopardize the rights and welfare of others and diminish ourselves.

Issues of academic integrity include, but are not limited to:

Copying someone else’s work or allowing someone to copy your work.
Representing someone else’s work or ideas, in part or in whole, as your own, or creating work for use by another person. A work need not be identical to the original to be considered plagiarism.
Using any unauthorized aid—including (but not limited to) online foreign language translators, “cheat sheets,” and technical devices such as phones—during tests or any other form of assessment.
Sharing or receiving information about an assessment. This includes verbal, non-verbal, written, and electronic means of communication.

Handing in work for which you already earned credit in another course.
Downloading, purchasing, or stealing materials or files without authorization.
Employing others to do your work. Students may ask a peer, teacher, or family member for clarification of the directions or process on an independent assignment, but the work itself must come only from the student (unless the teacher clearly communicates otherwise). Assignments are to be personally typed, written, revised, and/or edited unless other arrangements have been pre-approved.

Consequences

Students are responsible for understanding what constitutes academic dishonesty. Since MPA censures all forms of academic dishonesty, all acts of cheating are treated equally (i.e., there is no differentiation between homework, papers, tests, etc.). These consequences are not limited to cheating in one class; they are cumulative. It is important to note that consequences are intended to hold students accountable for their actions while educating them about integrity. Moreover, it is also recognized that missteps in academic integrity present learning opportunities for all students and especially for those new to our community.

First Offense:

Zero credit for work.
Teacher notifies parents/guardians and the Middle School Director, who will meet with student and note incident in student’s behavior file.

Second Offense:

Zero credit for work.
The teacher notifies parents/guardians and the Middle School Director, who will set a meeting with the student, a parent/guardian, and the teacher, when appropriate.
Students may lose credit for the class and/or may be put on probation.
Student must work with an assigned adult to gain a greater understanding of the importance of academic integrity and learn how to cite properly or study appropriately (as the situation requires). The student must then submit a one-page typed essay to the MS Director explaining what he/she learned from the experience.

Third Offense:

Zero credit for work.
The teacher notifies parents/guardians and the Middle School Director, who will set a meeting with the student, a parent/guardian, and the teacher, when appropriate.
Consequences may include loss of credit for the class, suspension, and/or dismissal from school.

Upper School Academic Integrity Policy (Cheating and Plagiarism)

Academic integrity is a commitment, even in the face of adversity, to five fundamental values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility.

The MPA academic integrity policy flows from the MPA Mission Statement in myriad ways, drawing on the principles of effective communication, “respect and integrity,” students being “involved and engaged in their own education,” and an “atmosphere of open discourse and academic rigor.”

Mounds Park Academy is committed to maintaining integrity in its academics and culture. We believe in the student–teacher relationship at the center of this work and in the responsibility students, staff, and families share in the creation of this culture.

Definitions
1. Dishonesty, cheating, and theft are not tolerated at MPA and represent violations of our academic integrity policy.
  1. Dishonesty (or lying) includes knowingly misrepresenting facts, often for one’s own benefit.
  2. Omitting or misrepresenting information can represent a lie when done with the intent to deceive.
2. Theft (or stealing) includes taking something from its owner without their knowledge and/or prior approval. Stealing can include not only the theft of physical property, but also the theft of ideas (intellectual property).
3. Cheating includes using or attempting to use assistance from another person or tool, in a way not expressly authorized by the teacher. Presenting another’s work or ideas as one’s own constitutes cheating.
  1. This applies both to receiving and to giving unauthorized assistance on any assignments; students are not to receive or offer any unauthorized assistance on assignments or assessments.
  2. Some examples of unauthorized assistance might include (but are not limited to) plagiarizing, obtaining or providing advance knowledge of the contents of an exam or assignment, copying another student’s work, or using an electronic resource (including AI software) beyond the scope the teacher has specifically permitted.
  3. Plagiarism may include (but is not limited to) failing to attribute a quotation, misleading citation or lack of citation, or false attribution. Each department will have specific standards on what constitutes plagiarism in their discipline.
  4. Collaboration with other students can also represent cheating when the extent of that collaboration goes beyond the scope authorized by the teacher.
  5. It is a student’s responsibility to understand what assistance is authorized in each of their classes. Inadvertent cheating, in a situation where a student has failed to clarify their understanding of previously explained class policies, represents a violation of the policy.
Procedure
1. Education about academic integrity is an integral part of our process and is embedded in the classroom, in conversations with students, and in public spaces in the school.
2. Teachers who identify a violation of the academic integrity policy must report it via the Student Referral Form (which automatically goes to the Upper School CARE Team, composed of the director, assistant director, counselors, assistant director of equity and belonging, and learning specialist).
3. Upon receiving a referral, the upper school director or upper school assistant director will reach out to the reporting teacher if any questions remain.
4. The assistant director will document the academic integrity violation in the student’s internal file in the Upper School Office.
5. For all violations beyond the first offense, administrators (or teachers) will contact home. Based on the severity of a first offense, a call home may be warranted.
6. In the event a student wishes to dispute an academic integrity violation, the school will convene a process involving the Honor Board (see Disputes.)
Consequences

The purpose of administering a consequence for an instance of academic dishonesty is to hold students accountable for their actions and to facilitate learning. The appropriate penalty will be determined by the faculty member in consultation with administration and will take into account the severity of the violation and the student’s prior history with academic dishonesty. Violations that appear to result from negligence, carelessness, or work that falls short of the formal standards of the discipline will normally receive lesser penalties than violations that involve a clear attempt to deceive.

If the student acknowledges having violated, or is determined to have violated, the academic integrity policy, the upper school director will assign consequences depending on the severity of the offense and the student’s prior record of academic integrity.
1. For a first offense, the student will engage in education to clarify their understanding of academic integrity, and a warning will be recorded in the student’s file. Based on the severity of the first offense, further consequences may be considered.
  1. Education might include whole-class lessons and conversations, small-group conversations, individual conversations, and/or research assignments on academic integrity.
  2. If contextually appropriate, a student may be asked to redo the assignment.
2. For a second offense of a similar nature, the student may be asked to redo the assignment for 50% credit. An administrator will have a conversation with the student and contact home.
3. For a third offense of a similar nature, the student will receive a zero on the relevant assignment and will likely receive an after-school detention (or some other loss of privilege). An administrator will have a conversation with the student and contact home.
4. For offenses beyond the third, the upper school director will determine additional consequences, including suspension, nonrenewal of contract, and expulsion, with the student and their family.
Violations are cumulative across disciplines and remain on a student’s internal record throughout their time at MPA. All violations will be recorded and stored in a student’s file in the Upper School Office.
Seniors may be required to report an academic integrity violation on their college applications if that violation resulted in a suspension or anything more serious.
Disputes
1. If the student contests the accusation and/or the consequence, the matter may be referred by any of the parties to the Honor Board for resolution.
  1. The Honor Board is composed of a standing group of faculty volunteers with representation from relevant departments, including members of the Office of Equity and Belonging.
  2. The Honor Board will separately interview the student and classroom teacher with a goal of gaining a full understanding of the situation. Students may request the presence of a parent/guardian.
2. The upper school director or assistant director, based on the board’s recommendation, will make a decision of no violation or violation.
Record Keeping
1. The assistant director will log a record of all instances of academic integrity in the student’s internal file in the Upper School Office (a digital record of this information will be kept in SharePoint as well).

Last Updated: June 18, 2024