Academic Honesty Policy Integrity is one of the most highly regarding of the IB attitudes and is expected of all students who attend Fresno High. The concept of academic honesty extends from the belief that all students must be responsible for their own learning as the learning process demands our own, unique efforts. Fresno High expects that students will not cheat, lie, plagiarize, or commit other acts of academic malpractice. The student who is academically honest produces their own original work through their own efforts and abilities. Though a student may receive help on an assignment from a tutor, family member or peer, integrity demands that the work presented as the final product be the student’s own creation. At FHS promoting academic honesty is the responsibility of the total school community. Only when there is a commitment on the part of all concerned can a school’s academic environment facilitate a healthy respect among students for the value of academic honesty. In such an environment, students will know that teachers will not ignore or condone cheating, plagiarism, or other acts of academic dishonesty. Students will also know that teachers, administrators, and parents/guardians will hold them accountable for any act of academic dishonesty. Key TermsPlagiarism, simply put is when a student represents someone else’s writing; work, or ideas as his or her own. Even someone else’s ideas paraphrased into one’s own words without proper citation is a violation of the academic honesty policy. This definition includes writing obtained from a commercial source (such as the internet), passages copied word for word from books without acknowledging the original source, phrases taken from another source without proper citation, or simply copying the work of another student. Plagiarism is also utilizing an expert’s ideas or research without proper citation and credit, even if it has been rewritten it in new language. Cheating is both an extension of plagiarism and its own offense. It is the practice of fraudulent or deceptive acts for the purpose of improving a grade or obtaining course credit. While “cheating” typically occurs during tests/quizzes/examinations, this definition is not limited to testing situations but extends to include the following:
- Using a “cheat sheet”
- Claiming participation in a group project when no contribution was made
- Getting test questions in advance of the test
- Turning in another person’s work for credit/grade
- Text messaging in a testing situation
- Using cell phones as a calculator when no aides are allowed
- Submitting work done previously for a different class but claiming it as original for the assignment in question
- Copying the work of another student (see plagiarism)
- Having someone so heavily revise/edit a piece of writing that it no longer represents the work of student in question
- Stealing or, in some fashion, obtaining the “key” for grading a test/assignment
For class assignments, copying from another student’s paper (will result in an “F” for all students involved on the specific assignment).Using any electronic device to give the student an unfair advantage over the other students. If a student copies the work of another student with their permission, both students will be subject to discipline.
Disciplinary action: Any student(s) caught plagiarizing/cheating is subject to the following discipline:
1st offense-
- Student(s) receive an “F” or “zero” grade on assignment
- Suspension from all field trips/extra-curricular activities for a 2-week period
- Parent contact/conference
- If student drops the class for any reason s/he will receive a W/F
- Copy of assignment is kept by appropriate party (VP, Coordinator)
- Offense becomes part of permanent record/portfolio
2nd offense-
- In addition to 1st offense disciplinary action:
- Possible suspension from school time spent in the
- Suspension from all field trips/extra-curricular activities for 9 full weeks
- “F” for the semester in the class
- Parent conference with teacher and counselor
- If the assessment is an official IB assessment, the assessment will not be submitted and student will receive an “N” grade for the subject area.
Assessment Policy
General Expectations of Assessment
Assessments are hereby defined as any activity that allows a teacher to determine a student’s current understanding and anticipate next steps for instruction. Assessments can be both formal, such as exams, essays and projects, or informal such as classroom discussion, response to direct questions, class polls, etc.
Assessment at Fresno High is utilized to ensure students master content and skills, are able to apply their learning in new contexts, develop connections between subject areas, orient their knowledge to authentic real-world experiences and become accurate judges of their own strengths and areas of growth.
We assess students not to grade or sort them, but to create indicators of instructional need. Through assessments, further instruction is designed based on student needs. Additionally, students will use assessments to refine their skills, hone their understanding and extend their own learning in the subject areas.
In order to achieve these aims, formative and summative assessments, criterion-referenced rubrics and the student’s best consistent effort will be used to determine success in a course. Students’ own reflections are a meaningful part of this process. Teachers and students will work together to create an accurate picture of a student’s progress.
Assessment will also reflect the core belief that learning is an application of higher-level thinking skills, not rote memorization or a series of disconnected tasks. Through the use of rubrics, both internal and those of IB, teachers will balance the content area knowledge necessary for mastery of the subject and the skills necessary for the demonstration of this knowledge. As such, we recognize that all teachers are teachers of literacy.
To ensure students are successful in all courses, classroom assessment will reflect the practice and principles of the formal assessment administered by IB or model performance-based tasks. These practices will be supported by the use of criterion, aims, and objectives agreed upon through collaboration by subject area Accountable Communities (AC).
Recording and Reporting of Grades
The process of grading a student and recording the grade as part of their permanent record will be done with great contemplation and care. Final marks will reflect our school-wide belief that all students have the ability to learn and achieve at a high level. A student’s final mark in a course will be based on multiple measures of their learning and reflect their overall attainment in the subject. Teachers will convert rubric scores into points which will then be used to create the letter grade required by the state of California. Teachers will move away from pure averaging of grades, working to include holistic measures of attainment.
Grading Schedule
Students at Fresno High will receive eight official grade notices: four progress reports and four end-of-quarter reports. Progress reports will be issued approximately five weeks into each quarter. Students will be given these reports to take home for their parent or guardian’s signature. End of quarter reports in second quarter and fourth quarter will be recorded as end of semester transcript grades and be maintained as part of the student’s final, permanent record. These report cards will be mailed directly to the address on file. For ongoing progress and to keep track of a student’s attendance, parents should use the Atlas system at http://parents.fresnou.org. Parents may also choose to have their students’ grades and attendance text to them on a daily basis with the EduText system. This is done through the Atlas Parent Portal to sign up.
Grade Scale and Grade Point Average
Generally speaking, students can expect a standard grading scale in their classes overall with those scores linked to criterion based rubrics. Any teacher not using the standard grading scale will note it in their course syllabus and include an explanation of the scale and their grading practices.
Standard Grading Scale
A = 90 – 100% B = 80 – 89% C = 70 – 79% D = 60 – 69% F = less than 60%
Calculating GPA
A student’s grade point average (GPA) will be calculated at the end of each quarter, with the semester GPA becoming the final mark on the transcript. GPA points are calculated as follows: A = 4 pts. B = 3pts C = 2pts D = 1 pt F = No points
To calculate a GPA, points are added and then divided by the number of courses. GPAs in IB, AP and Honors courses receive a .04 augmentation in the final calculation of their GPA, but only for 8 semesters, per district policy.
Middle Years Classes (All Classes Grades 9-10)
Performance-based student work in the Middle Years Programme classes will be assessed using the subject guide rubrics provided by IB. Scores will reflect students’ ability to achieve the grade descriptors for each rubric band.
Diploma Classes
Unlike the standard grade scale described above, the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme used the following numerical scale in each individual subject area:
7 – Excellent 6 – Very good 5 – Good 4 – Satisfactory 3 – Mediocre 2 – Poor 1 – Very Poor
Additionally, the assessments for the Theory of Knowledge course as well as the Extended Essay follow a letter grade system as seen below:
A – Excellent B – Very good C – Satisfactory D – Mediocre E – Elementary