Troy High School Academic Honesty Policy Parental/Student Agreement

  • The well being of the school community depends on each student's accepting responsibility for his or her personal conduct in both social and academic endeavors. In this regard, students are expected to attend Troy ready to learn and in their learning demonstrate the ability to discern right from wrong. A student's moral awareness as it applies to the academic environment is foundational to his or her success at Troy where the student must engage in an honest and integral pursuit of knowledge. Academic honesty requires that students produce work that is their own work. In contrast, academic dishonesty is a student's attempt to claim and show possession of knowledge and/or skills that he or she does not possess.
     
    Academic Dishonesty Policy

    Plagiarizing and cheating are grounds for immediate dismissal at colleges and universities. They are also considered serious infractions at Troy High School. Students who help others cheat or plagiarize are held to the same disciplinary process as those who commit the offense themselves. Troy High School students are expected to attend school ready to learn. It is also expected, at all times, that student behavior reflects the ability to discern right from wrong. The well being of the school community depends on each student accepting responsibility for personal conduct in both social and academic endeavors. Academic honesty requires that students take responsibility for producing work that is reflective of the student’s best effort. Academic dishonesty is evidenced by cheating or plagiarism or and involves any attempt by a student to show possession of knowledge and skills he/she does not possess or share information with others that allows another student to cheat or plagiarize. For purposes of this policy, the following definitions are in effect:

    Cheating is:

    • Using dishonest, deceptive, or fraudulent means to obtain or attempt to obtain credit for academic work.
    • Using notes, aids (electronic or otherwise), or the help of another student on tests in ways other than those expressly permitted by the teacher.
    • Looking at another student's tests or answers or talking to another student during a test or quiz.
    • Copying or allowing another student to copy a quiz, test, or individual assignment. 
    • Tampering with an instructor's record of student grades/scores.

    Plagiarism is:

    • Taking the specific substance of another person's work and creating or offering it as one's own work without giving credit to that source.
    • Not using quotation marks, indentation, and/or footnotes to denote material that has been directly quoted from another source. 
    • Paraphrasing an author without giving credit.

    Fabrication is:

    • The intentional use of invented information or the falsification of research or projects or other products with the intent to deceive.
    • Citation of information not taken from the source indicated or listing sources not directly used in the academic exercise.
    • Submitting an assignment that uses falsified, invented, or fictitious data or a deliberate concealment or distortion of the true nature of data or evidence.
    • Submitting as one's own any assignment prepared totally or in part by another person, entity, or artificial intelligence (AI).
    • Taking a test for someone else or permitting someone to take a test for you.

    Consequences
    Although individual violations of academic honesty are significant, it is the intent of consequences that the student should learn from his/her mistakes and not exhibit such behavior in the future. However, it is also the intent that violations of academic honesty are cumulative during the student's attendance at District schools. Therefore, a second offense, whether it occurs in the same class as the first offense or in another class or school during the same or subsequent semester or year, will result in consequences outlined as Further Offense provisions.

    First Offense
    The consequences for a student's first-time involvement in an act of academic dishonesty that leads to a referral to an administrator may include, but not be limited to, any or all of the following:

    • The student will receive a 0 (failing grade) on the quiz, test, or individual assignment.
    • Teacher will contact the student's parents and write a referral.
    • A record of the student's act of academic dishonesty will be recorded in the student's Aeries and discipline file. 
    • A U in citizenship may be recorded on the next grade report.
    • The student may be dropped from the National Honor Society (NHS) and/or California Scholarship Federation (CSF). 

    Further Offenses
    The consequences for a student's second (or subsequent) time of involvement in an act of academic dishonesty that leads to a referral to an administrator may include, but is not limited to, the following at the discretion of the administrator:

    • The student will receive a 0 (failing grade) on the quiz, test or individual assignment.
    • The student will receive discipline from administration.
    • The teacher will contact the student's parent(s)/guardians(s).
    • A record of the student's act of academic dishonesty will be recorded in the student's Aeries and discipline file. 
    • Other consequences as appropriate.