The Irvine Unified School District and Rancho San Joaquin Middle School place emphasis on integrity, ethical behavior and academic honesty. Core ethical values of honesty, responsibility, compassion, perseverance, respectfulness, cooperation, civic duty, and courage reflect this emphasis. We expect that all students will complete their own work and complete all assignments and assessments based on their own research, knowledge base and efforts in a manner that fully complies with their teacher’s norms, directives and policies. Students demonstrate academic honesty by NOT participating in the following actions. These definitions do not represent a complete list of possible infractions; rather, they provide examples of the range of conduct which violates academic honesty expectations.
1. Cheating on Tests - Any use of external assistance relating to an examination, test, or quiz without expressed permission of the teacher. This includes looking at another student's paper, sharing answers, possession of materials, or copying another student's paper.
2. Fabrication - Any intentional falsification or invention of data, citation, or other authority in an academic exercise.
3. Unauthorized Collaboration - Collaboration on an assignment between a student and another person, if such collaboration is not expressly directed or permitted by the teacher. This includes copying another student's work, allowing work to be copied or completing assignments for others, giving or "passing" any assessments to other students for the following year, or receiving any assessments from other students.
4. Plagiarism - Any representation of another's ideas, words, or work as one's own. Plagiarism includes the misuse of published material, electronic material, and/or the work of other students. The original writer who intentionally shares his/her paper for another to copy, without the permission of the teacher, has also engaged in plagiarism.
5. Alteration of Materials - Any intentional and unauthorized alteration of student, teacher, or library instructional or assessment materials. This may include changing answers after the fact. 6. Theft - Any unauthorized taking, concealment, or alteration of student or teacher instructional or assessment materials or equipment, including, but not limited to, the district data network, internet, and other on-line resources.
7. Transfer or Use of Unauthorized Materials - includes the use of unapproved translation devices, or any giving or selling of unauthorized materials.
8. Digital Citizenship Violations - Per Board Policy 6163.4 (Acceptable Use Policy) Students should refrain from using technological resources for infractions that involve academic dishonesty. These include using technology to copy, plagiarize, collaborate inappropriately, sending or receiving test questions, accessing another’s account, or hacking into computer systems.
To demonstrate academic honesty, students must:
• Do their own work as directed by a teacher.
• Not take credit for work done by anyone else.
• Refuse to aid any form of academic dishonesty.
• Understand the difference between collaboration and cheating (if you don’t, ask your teacher!) and collaborate with others in a way that is permissible.
Students who violate the academic honesty policy may receive one or more of the following consequences:
• Zero on the assignment, or a make-up for partial credit (teacher discretion).
• Parent notification by the teacher and referral to the Assistant Principal.
• Reflective assignment to be turned into the Assistant Principal.
• Violations may affect honors recommendation for the next grade level.
The full academic honesty policy can be found on the IUSD website.