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Academic Integrity

 

Guidelines for Academic Integrity in Assessments and Assignments

Assessments, such as quizzes and tests, are a critical part of any academic program. They offer important information about the student’s progress toward mastery. This information is helpful only if accurate. It can be accurate only if the assessment represents the student’s work and only his or her work.
 
The High School Platform Features Lockdown Browser, a secure browser add-on that limits the student’s ability to print, navigate the Internet, and access other programs while taking an online assessment. The default setting activates this functionality for Computer Scored (CS) Unit assessments.
 
Students must download and install a small piece of software called the Respondus Lockdown Browser. When students access these assessments, browser is activated, allowing the student to complete the assessment, but prevents access to any other functionality on the computer.
 
Lockdown Browser prohibits students from the following when taking an online assessment:
  • Printing functions are disabled
  • Print Screen and capturing functions are disabled
  • Copying and pasting anything into or from the assessment
  • Surfing the Web
  • Opening or using any other applications such as Microsoft Word, e-mail, instant messenger, etc.
  • Function keys are disabled
  • Selecting on any other area within the course
 
Students will not be able to select the Begin Exam button without the necessary software. Selecting the Lockdown Browser Download and Instructions link will take students to the download page to download the Lockdown Browser plug-in. Should a parent or student feel there is an extenuating circumstance preventing the use of Lockdown Browser, the parent must notify the teacher prior to the due date of the assignment. Exceptions to using Lockdown Browser will be determined on a case by case basis and must be approved by the high school principal.
 
Unless otherwise instructed by the teacher or by a specific assessment, the student is expected to honor the following principles while taking assessments:
 
The student:
  • and the student alone will take the assessment (in other words, the student will take the assessment independent of any assistance).
  • will not copy or redistribute any part of the assessment in any way—electronically, verbally, or on paper.
  • will treat the assessment as “closed book”—meaning that he or she may not use any textbooks, references, or other materials (printed or electronic) during the assessment—unless the teacher or the specific assessment otherwise instructs (for example, the student is specifically told to refer to certain pages in a book or notes as part of the assessment).
  • will treat the assessment as “single browser”—meaning that during the assessment you may not log in a second time to your course or open your course or related materials on another browser on another computer.
  • answers will represent his or her work and only his or her work, free of any outside assistance. The student will not plagiarize in any way.
  • will not confer with other students, family members, or acquaintances, either in person or through electronic communication, during the assessment.
 
Unless the teacher or the assessment’s specific directions state exceptions, the student is expected to follow these principles while taking assessments and completing written assignments. Only by honoring these principles, can the student assure both academic and personal integrity.
 

Plagiarism

The definition of plagiarism is copying or imitating the language, ideas, and thoughts of another writer and passing them off as the student’s own original work. Specific examples of plagiarism that will not be tolerated are:
  • Copying, paraphrasing, or summarizing another person’s work without citing that source.
  • Using material, including photographs, from the internet or any other source and representing as the student’s own, even if he or she has changed some of the words.
  • Having someone else write the assignment or rephrase any portion of that assignment.
  • Directly copying or rephrasing student aids (Cliff Notes, for example), critical sources, or reference materials in part or whole without acknowledging those sources.
 
ISOK uses Turn It In (TII), an online tool that checks student papers for plagiarism. It is designed for students to submit papers to be checked before submitting the final paper to their teacher. When a student submits a paper to Turn It In, it is automatically added to a database that allows the system to compare other submissions to it for plagiarism. It is up to each teacher to determine which assignments will be submitted to Turn It In. Should a parent or student feel there is an extenuating circumstance preventing the use of Turn It In, the parent must notify the teacher prior to the due date of the assignment. Exceptions to using Turn It In will be determined on a case by case basis and must be approved by the high school principal.
 

Source Citation and Academic Integrity

Many courses require written work where students need to cite sources. Any direct quotations from a textbook can simply be cited as (Author, page number). Any quotations from outside sources require full citations, including author, title, publisher, date of publication, and page number. If a student cites information found on a website, he or she must provide the complete web page or site title, URL, author (if known), page number (if applicable), publication date of the site (if available), and date of access.
 
Students are responsible for their own work on unit tests and final exams. Students are not permitted to share work with other students on unit tests or final exams. If a student does not complete his or her own work or shares work with others on unit tests and/or final exams, he or she will not receive credit for the work and is at risk of suspension or expulsion from Insight School of Oklahoma.
 
Students must cite sources in all assignments, tests, and exams. Students may not receive credit for work that does not appropriately cite sources.
 

Consequences

  1. First offense – The student and Learning Coach will receive an email and/or call from the teacher. The student will not receive credit for the plagiarized assignment unless the following steps are completed:
    1. The student will be required to review the plagiarism recorded lesson and complete the plagiarism worksheet (provided by the teacher).
    2. When the student has complied, he or she will be allowed to redo and resubmit the assignment for credit.
  2. Second offense – The student and parent will receive a call from the Principal. The student will not be allowed to rewrite the assignment and a grade of zero will be posted for the assignment.
  3. Third offense – Expulsion.
Please note that because Insight School of Oklahoma considers plagiarism a serious offense, these consequences apply to all instances of plagiarism in a student’s high school career here at Insight School, regardless of grade level or subject.
 
These consequences do not “start over” each new semester or school year; all instances are documented for the entirety of a student’s tenure at Insight School of Oklahoma.
 
 
This information is from the Board-approved ISOK Handbook for SY 2022-2023, revised September 2022.