MA's Academic Integrity Policy and Tutoring Guidelines

Academic Honesty
Marin Academy is an educational institution and thus takes the notion of honesty in academics and in all elements of the school seriously. Academic honesty is at the foundation of a genuine education and presenting the work of others as one’s own is unethical and subject to serious consequences at MA and elsewhere.

Why is plagiarism or cheating such a serious offense?
Marin Academy’s philosophy embraces the ultimate goal of teaching students to think for themselves; cheating and plagiarism is the ultimate subversion of that philosophy.

The work of others is devalued when individuals benefit from work that is not their own.

Dishonesty can be habit forming.

Colleges and universities ask about a student’s record of suspensions; colleges and universities do not tolerate academic dishonesty in their students.

Examples of academic dishonesty (cheating, plagiarizing, sharing inappropriate information) are below. Please also see MA’s Tutoring Guidelines beginning on page 10.

Cheating includes but is not limited to:
• Lying to a teacher.
• Copying homework (does not include collaboration explicitly permitted by the teacher).
• Copying from someone else’s quiz, test, lab, or paper, using cheat sheets, books, or unauthorized sources of information.
• Illicit use of calculators (writing and storing formulas, text, or unauthorized programs) during quizzes, tests, exams.
• Getting or supplying information about a test or quiz.
• Supplying work product (such as a problem set or a draft of an essay) to another student.
• Obtaining, without authorization, a quiz, test, exam or any parts thereof before taking the same.
• Submitting the same material (written or oral) in more than one class without checking with teachers ahead of time.
• Fabricating data to fit expected results.
• Altering any answers or grades on any test or assignment after it has been submitted for grading.
• Forging, falsifying or altering any information on application forms, transcripts, school records, etc.

Plagiarism includes but is not limited to:
• Submitting a paper or other work written in whole or in part by someone else (this may include but is not limited to a homework assignment, outline, report, lab, theme, design, web page design or content).
• Using words or ideas of others (quotation, documented idea, paraphrased passage) without citing the source. This includes information downloaded from the Internet.
• Obtaining and using experimental data from other students without the express consent of the teacher, using lab write-ups or data from other sections or previous classes.


Consequences for Academic Honesty Violations
The Academic Dean deals with all questions about academic honesty. If a student is found to be dishonest in his or her academic work at Marin Academy, the disciplinary consequences are serious. Dishonesty results in a “zero” for the piece of work (paper, test, quiz, homework, etc.) and a mandatory meeting with the Academic Dean.

Second offenses may range from suspension up to expulsion from the school.

The exception is freshmen and plagiarism. Plagiarism may be blatant and intentional. It may be incidental and / or unconscious. Our desire is to educate our students to cite sources and to recognize the complexities that may arise in properly doing so. With that goal in mind, and given the new academic landscape ninth graders encounter, freshmen who make plagiarism mistakes or procedural errors (i.e., not blatant or intentional plagiarism) will be asked to re-write the assignment and re-submit the piece to be graded by the teacher. The grade will be lowered by one full grade (i.e. a B would become a C). In addition, the student will write a reflection on why what he or she did is considered plagiarism and meet with the Academic Dean.

A student who violates the Academic Honesty Policy has violated community standards. (See pages 19 and 20.) First occurrences of a violation of MA’s community standards that do not lead to suspension are reported to colleges only if combined with other infractions of MA’s community standards.

If at any time the student does commit a second violation of community standards of any kind, that violation will result in a suspension. Both infractions are automatically reported to colleges, whether the student is an applicant or already admitted, for the school must respect the integrity of its recommendation obligation to colleges.

A student who is suspended from the school may not be present on campus or at school events for any reason during the period of suspension. Furthermore, students who are suspended are independently responsible for meeting all academic expectations. Major assignments (tests, essays, multi-day projects, etc.) will be counted as late and will drop one grade increment (i.e., a grade of B would become a B- minus.) Students will receive no credit for all other missed work (homework, class work, quizzes, etc.)

Marin Academy gratefully acknowledges Riverdale Country Day’s Academic Honesty policy and some of its language in updating our own policy.

Tutoring Guidelines for Families, Students, Teachers & Tutors

• We believe, as a school, that a student’s teacher is the first resource for a student or a family especially when a student is struggling in a subject area. We encourage students to make use of tutorial and free blocks to consult with teachers about their understanding, assignments, etc. As a school, we also recognize that some students may need extra help or tutoring in specific subject areas or in organizational skill building in addition to working with the teacher.
• If a family is considering hiring a tutor, we recommend first checking with your son or daughter’s teacher and the Academic Dean to see if tutoring would be helpful. The Academic Office and the Director of Learning Services keep lists of prospective tutors that have worked with students in the past; we recommend doing thorough background checks on any tutor.
• The following guidelines have been set up to clarify what kind of support and assistance is encouraged and what is discouraged. In addition to looking at these guidelines, we encourage everyone to be familiar with MA’s Academic Honesty policy and the associated importance of students doing their own work. The tutoring guidelines provided here are for students and those providing extra help.

For Families
• Notify the appropriate teacher that the student is working with a tutor, and provide the name and contact information of the tutor.
• Ask the tutor to contact the teacher.
• Expect work to be about skill building, rather than the production and perfection of actual classroom assignments.

For Students
• Remember the Academic Honesty policy (see pages 20-22 in this Directory). Tutors, friends, or parents may help you better understand how to work a math equation, write a thesis statement, conjugate a verb, but the work that you
• answer to a problem or how your thesis statement relates to your understanding of the book, you should be able to show your process.
• Be very clear about when you may receive extra help on an assignment; always check with your teachers in advance.

For Teachers
• Be responsive to e-mail or phone calls from your students’ tutors.
• Be clear in each assignment about what kind of help is acceptable.
• Be clear with students whom you know are being tutored about ways in which a tutor would be of assistance (and when students need to do their own work).

For Tutors
• Be aware that the school expects you to help students build their skills but not actually to do a homework assignment or edit or create a paper for a student; if you have any questions about this please contact the student’s teacher.
• Be aware of MA’s Academic Honesty Policy. For example, supplying work product (such as problem sets or a draft of an essay) would be a violation of MA’s Academic Honesty Policy.

Guidelines for Providing Extra Help (for Tutors, Parents, Peers, Siblings)
• Remember that the extra help should focus on review, remediation, and reinforcement of skills.
• Always refer to the assignment sheet, textbook, rubrics, and / or class notes.
• Ask the student to communicate his or her understanding of the context of an assignment—the skills emphasized, the goals, and the instruction rather than focus on due dates and completing specific assignments.
• Ask open-ended questions, such as “What else do you see in this section?” “What might have motivated this set of actions?” “How does this problem build on previous work?” rather than telling a student your interpretation of the text, understanding of the event, or way of answering the problem.
• Try to use extra explanations and exercises to practice when there are gaps in a student’s understanding of material. Make sure the student can do the work independently.
• Do teach the student effective ways to learn the information. Your strategies may be different and yet be complementary to those taught in the class.
• Ask the student to be reflective about learning. Rather than moving on when a problem has been solved, take time to examine the student’s understanding and learning style. Ask the student to explain the problem and his or her solution to you as if you were another student in the class.
• You may identify errors, flaws, or gaps in a student’s work or thinking, but the student must be able to identify why her or his thinking / answer / writing / work needs work and be able to make the changes on her own.
• Remember that homework, essays, lab reports, projects and all assignments should be the student’s own work and should be indicative of his strengths and weaknesses. An accurate portrayal of a student’s work helps the teacher to know how well the student is understanding the material.
• Be aware of MA’s Academic Honesty Policy. For example, supplying work product (such as problem sets or a draft of an essay) would be a violation of MA’s Academic Honesty Policy.