Mark Twain IS
Academic
Integrity Policy

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Mark Twain IS values and fosters personal integrity and

academic honesty within its programmes. The administration,

faculty, and staff strongly believe that integrity must be a

significant component in the academic success of our students.

Therefore, we promote academic integrity throughout all their scholastic
years, starting in PYP, cemented in MYP and ending in DP by fostering the
qualities outlined in the IB Learner Profile and in particular for this purpose
PRINCIPLED and THINKERS. In line with IBO Academic Integrity Policy, Mark
Twain IS students are taught how to:

  • take responsibility for producing authentic
    and genuine individual and group work;
  • correctly attribute sources, acknowledging
    the work and ideas of others;
  • responsibly use the information technology
    and social media;
  • observe and adhere to ethical and honest
    practice during examinations.

Malpractice or
academic
misconduct

IBO and Mark Twain IS defines malpractice as follows: a behavior that results
in, or may result in, the candidate or any other candidate gaining an unfair
advantage in one or more assessment components.

Students can incur in the following forms of malpractice:
Plagiarism
Definition:
Plagiarism is intentionally or carelessly presenting the work of another as one’s own. It includes submitting an assignment purporting to be the student’s original work which has wholly or in part been created by another person.
Clarification:
Every direct quotation must be identified by quotation marks or appropriate indentation and must be properly acknowledged by parenthetical citation in the text or in a footnote or endnote.
When material from another source is paraphrased or summarized in whole or in part in one’s own words, that source must be acknowledged in a footnote or endnote, or by parenthetical citation in the text. Information gained in reading or research that is not common professional knowledge must be acknowledged in a parenthetical citation in the text or in a footnote or endnote.
Collusion
Definition:
Supporting malpractice by another candidate, as in allowing one’s work to be copied or submitted for assessment by another (also known as complicity).
Duplication of work
Definition:
The presentation of the same work for different assessment components and/or diploma requirements.
Paraphrasing
Definition:
The restatement of someone’s work in another form. In order for it to be allowed, the source needs to be acknowledged.
Clarification:
Students completing any type of examination or assessment are prohibited from looking at another student’s materials and from using external aids of any sort (e.g., books, notes, calculators, and conversation with others) unless the teacher has indicated specifically in advance that this will be allowed.

Students may not take examinations or evaluations in the place of other persons.

Students may not allow other persons to take examinations or evaluations in their places.

Students may not acquire unauthorized information about an examination or evaluation and may not use any such information improperly acquired by others.

Students may not allow other students to copy from their papers during any type of examination.

Students may not assist other students in acts of academic dishonesty by providing material of any kind that one may have reason to believe will be misrepresented for evaluation purposes.

Students must respect personal property and never take without permission any belongings of another member of the academic community.
Fabrication of data, forgery and obstruction
Definition:
Fabrication of data is the use of invented, counterfeited, altered or forged information in assignments of any type including those activities done in conjunction with academic courses that require students to be involved in out of classroom experiences such as an experiment or for mathematical exploration/project.

Forgery is the imitating or counterfeiting of images, documents, signatures, and the like. Obstruction is any behavior that limits the academic opportunities of other students by improperly impeding their work or their access to educational resources.
Clarification:
Fabricated or forged information may not be used in any laboratory experiment, report of research, or academic exercise. Invention for artistic purposes is legitimate under circumstances explicitly authorized by the teacher.

Students may not furnish to instructors fabricated or forged explanations of absences or of other aspects of their performance and behavior.
Students may not steal, change, or destroy another student’s work. Students may not impede the work of others by the theft, defacement, or mutilation of resources so as to deprive others of their use.
Disregarding the IB DP Examination Code of Conduct
Definition:
An infraction or disregard of guidelines as established by the IBO with respect to examination conduct.

Disclosing information to another candidate, or receiving information from another candidate, about the content of an examination paper within 24 hours after the examination.
Clarification:
The school team (invigilators, DP Coordinator, teachers involved in the organization of exams) and the students participating in DP exams are forbidden to communicate details about the exams through social media within 24 hours after exam (including here Facebook, What’s App groups, Instagram, Twitter etc.).

The teachers who are teaching the subject of a certain exam are not allowed to see the content of the exam within 24 hours after the examination. Exception - the DP Coordinator.

The school team and the students participating in DP exams

are forbidden to communicate details about the exams

through social media within 24 hours after the exam

The teachers who are teaching the subject of a certain exam are not
allowed to see the content of the exam within 24 hours after the
examination. Exception - the DP Coordinator.

Other examples of academic misconduct/malpractice
  • Copying the work of another candidate or
    allowing one’s work to be copied by another
    candidate;
  • Completing an assignment for another
    student;
  • Submitting the work done by another
    student, parent, friend or private tutor;
  • Not acknowledging sources, whether
    deliberately or unwittingly;
  • Falsifying data used in an assignment;
  • Falsifying CAS records and journals;
  • Falsifying lab data or work;
  • Stealing examination material and/or exam
    papers;
  • Bringing unauthorized material into the
    examining room such as unauthorised
    software on a graphic calculator and other
    electronic devices;
  • Disrupting an examination or
    failing to comply with the rules set by the
    invigilator;
  • Impersonating another candidate.

Consequences of Academic Misconduct examples

Offence/ misconduct
1st offence
2nd (repeated) offence
Stealing

Documented and investigated. Suspension
(2-3 days). Probation.
Replace stolen goods. Parent/Academic Director / Student conference.
Possible Police involvement.
Director consulted – depending on seriousness, possible expulsion.

2nd – 1-2 weeks suspension, probation, counseling. Depending on seriousness, possible expulsion.
3rd – recommended expulsion

Lying to a member of the professional or support staff

Documentation is to be collected by the teachers and sent to Academic Director or Academic Deputy Director.
An automatic zero for the work. No opportunity is to be given to make up the zero grade. Parents are to be notified.

2nd -Additionally to 1st offence, student is put on probation; counseling, 2 days suspension
3rd -Indefinite suspension pending a recommendation for expulsion with a grade of zero being assigned to all work.

Cheating on tests or exams

Documented and investigated.
Conference with student, parent and staff member. Counseling.

2nd – student is put on probation; counseling, possible suspension
3rd – recommended expulsion

Forging signatures

Documented and investigated.
Conference with student, parent and staff member. Counseling.

2nd – student is put on probation; counseling, possible suspension
3rd – recommended expulsion

Plagiarism / Copying homework / class assignments from colleagues

Documented and investigated.
Conference with student, parent and staff member. Counseling.

2nd – student is put on probation; counseling, possible suspension
3rd – recommended expulsion

Submitting assignments or coursework that are not one’s own

Documentation is to be collected by the teachers and sent to Academic Director or Academic Deputy Director.
An automatic zero for the work. No opportunity is to be given to make up the zero grade. Parents are to be notified. Counselling recommended.

2nd – Additionally to 1st offence, student is put on probation; counseling, and 2 days suspension
3rd – Indefinite suspension pending a recommendation for expulsion with a grade of zero being assigned to all work.

Stealing
1st offence

Documented and investigated. Suspension
(2-3 days). Probation.
Replace stolen goods. Parent/Academic Director / Student conference.
Possible Police involvement.
Director consulted – depending on seriousness, possible expulsion.

2nd (repeated) offence

2nd – 1-2 weeks suspension, probation, counseling. Depending on seriousness, possible expulsion.
3rd – recommended expulsion

Lying to a member of the professional or support staff
1st offence

Documentation is to be collected by the teachers and sent to Academic Director or Academic Deputy Director.
An automatic zero for the work. No opportunity is to be given to make up the zero grade. Parents are to be notified.

2nd (repeated) offence

2nd -Additionally to 1st offence, student is put on probation; counseling, 2 days suspension
3rd -Indefinite suspension pending a recommendation for expulsion with a grade of zero being assigned to all work.

Cheating on tests or exams
1st offence

Documented and investigated.
Conference with student, parent and staff member. Counseling.

2nd (repeated) offence

2nd – student is put on probation; counseling, possible suspension
3rd – recommended expulsion

Forging signatures
1st offence

Documented and investigated.
Conference with student, parent and staff member. Counseling.

2nd (repeated) offence

2nd – student is put on probation; counseling, possible suspension
3rd – recommended expulsion

Plagiarism / Copying homework / class assignments from colleagues
1st offence

Documented and investigated.
Conference with student, parent and staff member. Counseling.

2nd (repeated) offence

2nd – student is put on probation; counseling, possible suspension
3rd – recommended expulsion

Submitting assignments or coursework that are not one’s own
1st offence

Documentation is to be collected by the teachers and sent to Academic Director or Academic Deputy Director.
An automatic zero for the work. No opportunity is to be given to make up the zero grade. Parents are to be notified. Counselling recommended.

2nd (repeated) offence

2nd – Additionally to 1st offence, student is put on probation; counseling, and 2 days suspension
3rd – Indefinite suspension pending a recommendation for expulsion with a grade of zero being assigned to all work.

External Procedures and Penalties

If questions arise about the authenticity of a candidate’s final submission of
work towards completion of the diploma programme (such as IA, WA, EE,
TOK essay, CAS portfolio or final exams) the school will follow IBO
procedures as outlined in Article 21 of General Regulations: Diploma
Program (2016) and Academic Integrity (2019).

  • The school will conduct an investigation and provide the IB with statements and other relevant documentation concerning the case.
  • The DP coordinator will lead the investigation and collect all relevant statements and documentation from parties involved, i.e. the teacher or examiner and the student.
  • In such cases, the student must be invited to present a written statement that addresses the suspicion of academic misconduct.
  • The majority of cases of suspected academic misconduct will be presented to an IB sub-committee of the Final Award Committee. If the sub-committee decides that a case of academic misconduct has been established, a penalty will be applied in the subject(s) concerned.
  • If no grade is issued for a subject that contributes to a candidate’s IB Diploma, no IB Diploma will be awarded to the candidate.

For a detailed account of IB investigation procedures and penalty matrices for both school maladministration and student academic misconduct, please consult the appendices of the IBO’s publication Academic Integrity (2019).

The Role of Students

Pre-IB and DP students are independent learners and Mark Twain IS
emphasises their independence. The school expects its IB students to
strive to fit the IB learner profile by being reflective thinkers and principled
inquirers and acting with integrity and honesty.

Student’s responsibilities include:

Read, understand and become familiar with the rules of the Mark Twain IS
Academic Integrity Policy and with all IBO rules and regulations
documents.

  • All work submitted is the students own work.
  • All sources are fully and correctly acknowledged including sources taken from websites, audio-visual, emails, CDs, photographs, graphs and similar.
  • When required by teachers and/or by the DP Coordinator, students must submit their work to Turnitin.
  • Respect internal deadlines.
  • Make proper use of a citation style.
  • When submitting his/her work to IB examiners, the candidate is ultimaly responsible for ensuring that all work submitted for assessment is authentic, with the work of ideas of others fully and correctly acknowledged.
  • For submitting their work to IBO through IBIS, students will sign a declaration form which allow their teachers and DP Coordinator to safely upload the final document.
  • If students are unsure whether something constitutes academic misconduct they should consult their teacher or the DP coordinator.
  • Students are also expected to respond to acts of student academic misconduct and school malpractice and report them to their teachers, the DP coordinator and/or the principal.

The Use of Turnitin

The school currently has access to the online plagiarism detection service
Turnitin and the teachers are expected to use it. All teachers are
encouraged to submit on Turnitin both drafts and final versions of word-
processed work which constitutes a major component of course
assessment.

Based on Candidate signed Consent, each student is informed that
their work on Extended Essays/ TOK essays/ Written Assignments
and tasks/ Internal Assessments will be checked by the teachers using
Turnitin. In case of major plagiarism and that means more than 20%,
the school will refuse to submit its students' work on IBO.

The Role of Parents or Legal Guardians

At Mark Twain IS we strongly believe in the open communication and
continue collaboration between teachers, school administration and
parents. Parents can play a very important role in supporting and helping
their children achieving more than they think they can and acting with
integrity by:

  • Reading and becoming familiar with the Academic Integrity Policy and all IBO documents related to the IB Diploma rules and regulations;
  • Supporting teachers and administrations in talking to their children about the importance of academic integrity;
  • Cooperate with the school in case their child is found to be guilty of malpractice either intentionally, or by inappropriate documentation of sources.

References and resources

This document is based on and totally aligned with:
Academic integrity.
General Regulations: Diploma Program (2016)