All schools offering the MYP must develop and implement language, assessment, inclusion/special educational needs (SEN) and academic honesty policies that are consistent with IB expectations. As we are in our self-study year, Lesher is currently re-examining it's policies in order to ensure they are aligned with MYP requirements.
Academic Honesty Policy
It is a requirement that every IB World School offering the MYP has a policy to promote academic honesty. Academic honesty in the IB is a principle informed by the attributes of the IB learner profile. In teaching,learning and assessment, academic honesty serves to promote personal integrity and engender respect for others and the integrity of their work. Upholding academic honesty also helps to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge and skills they acquire during their studies.
As stated in the IB learner profile, all members of the IB community must strive to be “principled”, acting with “integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness and justice, and with respect for the dignity and rights of people everywhere”. MYP students must demonstrate academic honesty and avoid any form of academic misconduct.
A school policy on academic honesty must at least include:
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appropriate reference to the IB learner profile, particularly to striving to be principled
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the IB definitions of academic misconduct and its different categories
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advice on and/or examples of what constitutes academic misconduct, intellectual property andauthentic authorship
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examples of conventions for citing and acknowledging original authorship
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guidance on the distinction between legitimate collaboration and unacceptable collusion.
Assessment Policy
An assessment policy is derived from the school’s and the IB’s assessment philosophy and principles, which must be consistent with each other. It is constructed around educational and pedagogical values and,therefore, represents a statement of intent and action describing principles and practices for achieving educational goals relating to all aspects of assessment.
The assessment policy must include:
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a philosophy of assessment that supports student learning
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common practices in using the MYP assessment criteria and determining achievement levels
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common practices in recording and reporting student achievement
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implementation of formative and summative assessment consistent with IB expectations
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(for schools with local/state/national requirements) an explanation of the relationship of MYP
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assessment principles and practices with required systems for grading and reporting.
Inclusion/Special Educational Needs Policy
Schools must develop and implement an inclusion/special educational needs (SEN) policy that is consistent with IB expectations and in accordance with local legislation and the school’s admission policy.
Language Policy
A school language policy provides a dynamic framework for promoting the development of interpersonal communicative skills, threshold literacy that leads towards academic language proficiency, and confident identities.
The language policy must include (as applicable):
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support for mother tongues
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support for students who are not yet proficient in the language of instruction
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learning of the host country or regional language and culture.
The language policy takes into account the needs of students in language and literature and language
acquisition courses.