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Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity Definition

  • Using honest methods to fulfill academic expectations and responsibilities;
  • Assuring that all academic work is the legitimate, truthful work of the pupil;
  • Submitting examinations, essays, projects, and homework that are free from fraud or deception; and
  • Relying on one’s own knowledge and preparation, unless otherwise instructed by the teacher.

Academic Dishonesty Definition

  • Obtaining or assisting others in obtaining credit for work that is not their own.

Academic Integrity Responsibilities

Pupil’s Responsibilities

Shares the responsibility for maintaining an environment that supports academic integrity and discourages academic dishonesty.

Teacher’s Responsibilities

Create a classroom environment that discourages cheating, confronting suspected violators and insuring fair treatment of all pupils.

Administrator’s Responsibilities

Develop an environment that discourages academic dishonesty and applying the appropriate consequences

Due Process and Pupil Rights

Pupils accused of academic dishonesty shall be entitled to a meeting with the school administration. Parents shall be notified of the charge and the date of the meeting. Implementation of sanctions will be suspended until the appeal made by the pupil is completed. In all cases involving academic dishonesty, the pupil charged or suspected shall, at a minimum, be accorded the following rights:

  1. Prompt investigation of all charges of academic dishonesty;
  2. Written notice (on a discipline referral) of the facts and evidence underlying the charge of academic dishonesty;
  3. An explanation of the procedure used in the investigation;
  4. Meeting at which the pupil involved may be heard and the accuracy of the charge determined by an assistant principal, who shall recommend a course of action to the principal; and
  5. An appeal of the assistant principal’s decision within 48 hours to the principal.

The Pleasanton Unified School District staff shall hold all pupils accountable for academic integrity.

In grades 3 through 12, all teachers will:

  1. Counsel the pupil on academic integrity;
  2. Notify the school administration on a referral form (the administrator will determine who will make the parent notification); and
  3. At the teacher’s discretion, as appropriate, reduce the grade on the assignment in question.

The teacher may implement one or more of the following possible actions for academic dishonesty:

  1. Assign the pupil no credit/ “F” for the academic work or examination involved;
  2. Assign an “F” grade for the quarter for any subsequent occurrence in the same course;
  3. Refer the pupil for counseling for assistance in dealing with the issue of academic integrity; and/or
  4. After meeting and discussing it with the school administration, assign a grade of “F” for the quarter of the course on a first incident of academic dishonesty, based on the severity of the situation.

Pupils who are referred to the school administration and found to be in violation of the Academic Integrity Regulation may be subject to additional consequences that may include, but are not limited to the following:

  1. Meeting with the parent(s) followed by written notification to the parent of the academic integrity policy and regulation and possible consequences for future violations of the policy/regulation;
  2. Detention, Saturday school or suspension depending on the seriousness of the act;
  3. Referral to police for possible criminal prosecution;
  4. Notification to any faculty members writing a college/university letter of recommendation;
  5. No public recognition of the pupil at any honors functions;
  6. No scholarship money granted to the pupil by the District Scholarship Committee;
  7. Loss of extracurricular activities, elected or appointed school leadership positions, and/or membership on school team for up to 90 days depending on the severity of the offense;
  8. A recommendation for expulsion for a pupil who is found guilty by school authorities of violation of California Education Code 49000:
    1. Theft, sales or distribution of any materials including, but not limited to, examinations and/or quizzes
    2. Breaking into and/or examining a teacher’s, the school’s, or the district’s possessions (e.g., desk, files, cabinet, database, computer files, etc.) to obtain or view evaluation instruments;
    3. Changing and/or falsifying a grade in a teacher’s grade book, on a computer, or through other devices used to record pupil grades;
    4. Unauthorized possession of a stolen evaluation instrument.

Academic Integrity Regulation 5151

APPENDIX I.

Examples of Academic Dishonesty may include, but are not limited to:

  1. Communicating with another pupil during an examination;
  2. Copying from another pupil’s examination paper or computer file or allowing a pupil to copy from one’s examination;
  3. Viewing or using unauthorized notes, study aids, crib notes, devices or information on an examination;
  4. Stealing, buying, selling, giving away, possessing, reproducing, circulating, accepting, removing or otherwise gaining access to examination materials or parts of examinations or answer keys and/or information about an examination, without the knowledge and consent of the teacher;
  5. Changing answers and/or seeking credit on an assignment or examination after the work has been graded and returned;
  6. Looking at or using information from another person’s examination, report, or assignment;
  7. Taking a quiz, examination, or similarly evaluated assignment for another person; or utilizing another person to take a quiz, examination, or similar assignment in place of oneself;
  8. Altering a teacher’s grades;
  9. Altering documents affecting academic records;
  10. Falsifying information for applications (e.g., awards, scholarships);
  11. Falsifying or inventing any information, data or citation;
  12. Using computers, cell phones, programmable calculators or any other electronic devices in violation of guidelines established by the teacher;
  13. Misusing school computer systems which are used for pupil, staff or administrative purposes;
  14. Unlawfully copying computer software or data created by others;
  15. Viewing or altering computer records, modifying computer programs or systems, releasing or dispensing information gained via unauthorized access, or interfering with the use or availability of computer systems or information;
  16. Submitting a paper or project which is not the pupil’s work;
  17. Copying another person’s assignments;
  18. Allowing another pupil to copy one’s assignment;
  19. Impersonating a pupil to assist the pupil academically;
  20. Using professional help such as an author, expert, or purchased service in violation of guidelines established by the teacher;
  21. Any other violation intended to obtain credit for work which is not one’s own;
  22. Allowing another person to do one’s work and submitting that work under one’s own name;
  23. Submitting identical or similar papers for credit in more than one course without prior permission from the course instructors;
  24. Denying others access to information or material;
  25. Sabotaging another pupil’s work through actions designed to prevent the pupil from successfully completing an assignment;
  26. Submitting material that in part or whole uses the ideas, organization, or words of another from a book, article, paper, computer file, or other source in any assignment without giving proper credit following accepted citation rules (plagiarism);
  27. Presenting data that were not gathered in accordance with standard guidelines defining the appropriate methods for collecting or generating data and failing to include an accurate account of the method by which the data were gathered or collected;
  28. Otherwise undertaking activity with the purpose of creating or obtaining an unfair academic advantage over other pupils’ academic work;
  29. Providing false information in connection with any inquiry regarding academic integrity;
  30. Forging signatures of authorization or falsifying information on an official academic document, grade report, letter of permission, petition, drop/add form, ID card, or any other official school document;
  31. Failing to cite with quotation marks the written words or symbols of another author;
  32. Failing to footnote the author and sources of materials used in a composition;
  33. Failing to cite research materials in a bibliography;
  34. Failing to name a person quoted in an oral report;
  35. Failing to cite an author whose works are paraphrased or summarized;
  36. Presenting another person’s creative work or ideas as one’s own in essays, poems, music, art, computer programs or other projects;
  37. Copying or paraphrasing ideas from literary criticism or study aids without documentation;
  38. Providing assistance to, or receiving assistance from, another person in any manner prohibited by the instructor;
  39. Submitting any course materials or activities not the pupil’s own, allowing such a submission to be made for oneself, or making such a submission for another;
  40. Submitting as your own, in fulfillment of academic requirements, any theme, report, term paper, essay, computer program, other written work, painting, drawing, sculpture, or other artwork prepared totally or in part by another; and
  41. Selling, giving, or otherwise supplying to another pupil for use in fulfilling academic requirements any theme, report, term paper, painting, drawing