Academic Integrity Policy

Madison International Arts Magnet Middle School

Philosophy

In Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) and at Madison Middle, we want students to value a learning environment of integrity, principle, and honor. The student will be expected to use his or her talents and critical thinking skills to produce work that is their own. The student will communicate his or her knowledge and ideas in original work samples.

Each student is expected to take ownership of the authenticity of his or her work. It is the belief of MNPS that academic integrity is essential to each student's educational and future career success. Only original work will be accepted in all subject areas. Work should be cited in the appropriate style for the subject. Any sample submitted for assessment may not be duplicated for other assessments.

Teachers will use work samples as a means for measuring understanding and gauging academic integrity — which is necessary for accuracy in reporting a student's growth and progress. During assessments students are expected not to disturb or affect another's assessment. Students should not bring inappropriate or unauthorized materials into an examination. During assessments or examinations, a student should conduct him or herself with honor and integrity. Students should not engage in discussion of examinations or assessments that promote the advancement of some students unfairly.

Teachers will use the regulations of IBO (International Baccalaureate Organization) in conjunction with the regulations of MNPS any question of academic dishonesty is reported. Each teacher and administrator should know the academic integrity policy.

What is academic integrity?

Responsibilities

School responsibilities

The Middle Years Programme (MYP) schools provide a safe place for students by assisting students as they develop their inquiry skills, take appropriate risks, and learn from their mistakes while engaging in authentic work.

Teacher responsibilities

It is the responsibility of the teachers to provide opportunities for students to develop and produce authentic, original work. Instructors are also charged with providing instruction in self-management, social awareness, communication techniques, critical thinking, and ethical research skills, including what constitutes misuse or plagiarism as well as how to properly cite sources in collaboration with the librarian. Teachers will not only teach academic integrity but will also model good practice. Administrators will support them in this effort.

Family & community responsibilities

MYP schools recognize the important role that families and community members play in working with the schools to ensure that students are successful. Family and community support of this academic policy will enhance learning as students strive to produce work that adheres to ethical norms and demonstrates the use of principled behaviors. Families and community members should become informed of the expectations placed on students to support these practices both inside and outside the school building and take advantage of the expertise and resources of the school librarian when questions arise about plagiarism, copyright, citing sources, and other ethical issues, all community members, working together under the same understandings, will create an environment that promotes academic integrity and student success.

Student responsibilities

It is an expectation that all students produce authentic works and adhere to district and IB MYP policies. Students should have the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes.

The Learner Profile helps guide our focus on academic integrity. We use the Learner Profiles to help students develop appropriate decision-making skills and work habits.

We recognize that, with the support of the Learner Profile, students should:

The following definitions, guidelines, and procedures allow students the opportunity to learn from their mistakes as they develop skills and characteristics to assume the mantle for their own learning.

Definitions

The following definitions and examples will enable students to have a clear picture of what is permissible and what is not.

Not permissible

Permissible

Group collaboration guidelines

While we recognize that learning is a social endeavor, we must have common understandings for the production of work within a group or partnership. Students are expected to:

Any concerns about collaborative work or products should be addressed within the group and with the teacher immediately.

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Assessment Policy

Madison International Arts Magnet Middle Prep

Philosophy

We believe that our aim as teachers is to develop versatile critical thinkers, not simply test-takers. We believe in scaffolding learning for all students and encouraging higher order thinking skills through authentic assessments that reflect both the world outside the classroom; as well as the standardized testing driven environment in which they must currently demonstrate their knowledge.

We are committed to honoring growth and fostering a growth mindset in both students and faculty. We use assessment and MYP assessment criteria for the purposes of informing instructional practices and providing students and families with feedback on growth and achievement.

Practices

Assessment at Madison International Arts Magnet Middle School consists of collecting, reporting and recording progress toward a desired, stated learning outcome, as designated in unit planners by the MYP assessment criteria and curriculum requirements. Our assessments yield a realistic representation of the current knowledge, experience, and levels of understanding of students, determine their stages of development, and reflect the international and intercultural dimensions of our school.

Mastery can be demonstrated in a variety of ways, including quizzes, tests, performance-based tasks, projects, speeches, etc. Additionally, students will participate in various school project expositions in which they will be interviewed and required to defend their work and are graded quantitatively by standards-based rubrics. Stakeholders from the community will provide feedback for students on their work, and teachers guide students through reflective analysis, helping them write and track personalized goals.

Grades, both formative and summative, are recorded in Schoology, Infinite Campus, and families can monitor students' progress with a personalized login. We communicate final grades via report cards at the end of each nine-week period, and progress reports at the midpoint of each nine-week period.

At our school, students will experience these assessments:

Purposes of assessment

The IB program views the purposes of assessment and describes the rights and responsibilities of teachers and students as:

• Teaching and learning allows students to meet the MYP objectives in each year of the programme for each subject group studied. (PSP 2014, Teaching and Learning 1.b)
• Reflecting intercultural dimensions of the program. (LP Open Minded)
• Determining the learners' levels of understanding, using a range of strategies and tools. (PSP 2014, Assessment 3)
• Informing, enhancing, and improving the teaching process. (PSP 2014, Assessment 7)
• Providing students with feedback to inform and improve their learning. (PSP 2014, Assessment 4)
• Communicating and encouraging progress toward a goal. (ATL: Self-management)
• Enhancing self-esteem through achievement of goal(s). (ATL: Social) (LP: Balanced)
• Assessing the effectiveness of the environment on the student's learning. (ATL: Self-management/Thinking) (PSP 2014, Teaching and Learning C3 14)
• Assessment at the school aligns with the requirements of the programme(s).
  • Using the prescribed assessment criteria for each subject group in each year of the programme.
  • Standardizing their understanding and application of criteria before deciding on achievement levels. (PSP 2014, Assessment 1a and 1b)

Integrating MYP with local requirements

While maintaining the required standard grading policy of Metro Nashville Public Schools, our curriculum and our assessment practices strive for alignment with the aims and prescribed objectives of the IB Middle Years Programme. District-created pacing guides and State Standards are incorporated with the learning objectives and assessment criteria of the IB MYP subject guides. Selected Global Contexts and Concepts are highlighted in all units in order to deepen student understanding, strengthen connections between local and global issues, and to extend comprehension of unit content.

Working together

Teachers meet bi-weekly by grade level and monthly by subject area during common planning time to discuss alternative ways to assess students' knowledge, to measure task appropriateness, to analyze results, and to standardize units and assessments.

Reflection

Both teachers and students practice personal reflection of assessment results and strategically discuss results with peers. These results give a realistic representation of the current level of students' understanding and generate more discussion of how to achieve the next level of growth. Teachers engage students in one-on-one data talks to ensure students are aware of their progress, and to develop goals.

Cross-curricular tools and strategies

To support the objectives of the MYP, our faculty will use a wide variety of relevant assessment strategies and tools including:

• Self-reflection forms
• Questionnaires
• Investigations
• Exams
• Research
• Modeling
• Projects
• Journals
• Class discussions
• Performances & presentations — verbal, written, graphic, musical, media-related
• Rubrics
• Examples & models
• Anecdotal records
• Checklists
• Continuums
• Portfolios
• Graphic organizers
• Norm- and criterion-referenced assessments

Subject-specific assessment tools and strategies

Reporting

Currently, reporting of student assessment comes in the form of:

• Progress reports (quarterly)
• Report cards (quarterly)
• Parent-teacher conferences (each semester)
• Open House (beginning of year)
• Family Portal: an online portal accessible to parents and students 24 hours a day
• Email (as needed)
• Phone calls (as needed)

Grading policy

Retakes

• All summative retakes must be taken within a grading period of receiving their original grade.
• Teachers will assign recovery work as needed to students who have completed all formative work but still need more support.

Formative assessments

• All formative assessments will hold little to no weight, so that they will not affect the student's grade.

Grading

• All teachers will make clear to students and parents how project-based assessment is going to be graded before the assessment is given. Rubrics should be presented at the beginning of the unit so students are clear on expectations, and every criterion should be assessed twice.

Goals

To improve our MYP assessment practices, we recognize our need to work together in subject area and/or grade level teams to:

1. Learn more about MYP assessment, specifically use of MYP subject area assessment criteria.
2. Develop modified rubrics for each level of the program.
3. Complete standardization as a team to ensure validity and reliability.
4. Report progress to parents via conferences (eventually student-led) and once we have our IB platform up and running.

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Inclusion Policy

Madison International Arts Magnet Middle School

Introduction and purpose

We believe that all students can and should participate as fully as possible in the IB Middle Years Programme. Each student with special educational needs and/or English language learning identification is provided with the appropriate support to ensure academic success. Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools and each individual school is required to follow all state and federal laws, including, but not limited to, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

IDEA requires that schools provide special education services to eligible students as outlined in a student's Individualized Education Program (IEP). IDEA and Section 504 also provide very specific requirements to guarantee a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment (LRE). FAPE and LRE are the protected rights of every eligible child, in all fifty states and U.S. Territories.

The International Baccalaureate Organization, along with all Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, strive to provide an open, accessible MYP curriculum to all students whenever possible and whenever it proves to be in the student's best interest.

The purpose of this document is to:

• Communicate to all stakeholders in our IB community — administrators, teachers, students, and parents — the programmatic expectations for creating and maintaining the least restrictive educational environment for all learners as required by IBO.
• Provide clear guidelines to all stakeholders by defining appropriate vision, goals, and practice in the context of the Middle Years Programmes within MNPS schools.
• Establish clear responsibilities of all stakeholders.

This document draws its authority from the IBO MYP Coordinator's Handbook, MYP: From Principles to Practice, the IB Online Curriculum Center online publications and resources, the curriculum guides for each MYP subject, and the MNPS curriculum guides. Special acknowledgement for Henrico County IB schools for providing a model for this document.

Program philosophy

It is the philosophy of both IB and Metro Nashville Public Schools that every child can learn and that every child should be provided with those creative, thinking, and learning skills that will carry them to success as adults, making them self-sufficient citizens, caring and reflective members of society, and productive contributors in the global marketplace. Therefore, it is our Program's vision, in the context of the inclusive nature of MYP and the learner-centered nature of IB instructions, that all students receive the necessary resources, guidance, accommodations, and differentiation needed to attain their highest level of personal success.

This document echoes the policy of the International Baccalaureate (IB) for middle years, diploma and certificate candidates with special assessment needs:

The purpose of this document is to provide our programs' stakeholders with information about the arrangements available for candidates with special needs during their preparation of work for assessment and in their written examinations. There is no intention to provide guidance on teaching methodology or resources. Procedures for requesting special arrangements are explained in the Middle Years Programme Coordinator's Handbook, the procedures manual for coordinators and teachers.

Principles

All special arrangements that may be authorized by the IB are based on the following principles.

• The International Baccalaureate (IB) believes in an inclusive approach to education that is designed to remove or reduce barriers so that every student can fully participate in, and develop through, IB programmes.
• This access and inclusion policy aims to establish standards and best practices in access and inclusion in IB World Schools so that all students can fully participate in their IB education. All schools are expected to draw upon the principles and practice of provision of access arrangements from this policy to formulate their internal school inclusion policy and practice for learning, teaching and assessment.
• 1.5 — Barriers are all the obstacles that may prevent or disadvantage a student from participating or effectively engaging in their learning, teaching and assessment. Access and inclusion must be considered when a learner is facing a long-term challenge.
• 1.6 — Primary barriers are the key elements that impact a student's learning. Often, there are also associated secondary barriers that are causally related to the primary barrier. Both primary and secondary barriers must be considered when planning the access arrangements for a student.
• 1.7 — The IB is committed to an educational philosophy based on international mindedness. Therefore, the special assessment needs policy of the IB may not reflect the standard practice of any one country. To achieve equity among candidates with special assessment needs, the policy represents the result of a consideration of accepted practice in different countries.
• 1.8 — All requests for access arrangements for IB assessments must be:
  • based on the usual way of learning and teaching in the classroom
  • in line with the eligibility criteria stated in this policy
  • submitted along with supporting documents as evidence
  • submitted by the deadline stated in the Assessment procedures for the relevant programme(s).
• 1.11 — The IB treats all information about a candidate as confidential. If required, information will only be shared with appropriate IB and school personnel.
• 1.13 — The list of special arrangements available is revised regularly. The IB will consider alternative arrangements proposed by a coordinator, provided those arrangements can be made available to all other similarly affected candidates.

Terminology

The following definitions are drawn from the IB Access and inclusion policy (PDF), section 5.7 Glossary.

Roles and responsibilities

Of the school

• School counseling as well as Exceptional Education specialists will provide teachers with all IEPs and 504 plan documentation.
• Exceptional education case managers and/or school counselors will provide updates and host meetings for updates in IEPs and 504 plans.
• Exceptional Education specialists and counselors will communicate vertically as students pass from middle to high school so that continuity may be maintained.
• Schools will facilitate the provision of appropriate accommodations such as but not limited to additional time, rest periods, separate testing space, technological aides, reading aids (readers, prompters, Braille, interpreters), and assessment/assignments in special color or type size, audio recordings, assignment modification, extensions, and assistance or exemptions as specified by the student's IEP or 504 plan.

Of the teacher

• The classroom teacher, in conjunction with the exceptional education case manager and/or teacher, will familiarize him/herself with the nature and needs of his/her students' needs by utilizing school resources and will keep a copy of the student's 504 plan or IEP.
• The classroom teacher will provide differentiation and accommodation, in conjunction with the exceptional education case manager and/or teacher, as needed as required for student success and as outlined in the student's IEP or 504 plan.
• The teacher will maintain discretion and confidentiality in providing these services.

Of the parent and student

• Families will make a request for child studies or services from the school as they are needed and in a proactive manner.
• Families will provide documentation to school officials for IEPs and 504 plans so that documentation can be provided for accommodation requests.
• Families will communicate with teachers concerning their observations as to their child's needs to facilitate appropriate intervention strategies.
• Students will be proactive in seeking assistance from their teachers to meet their learning needs.

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Language Policy

Madison International Arts Magnet Middle School

IB language philosophy

The International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes aim to give students knowledge and learning experiences that have global significance and that give students the opportunity to explore the similarities shared by people of all cultures. To conduct inquiry and be prepared for lifelong learning, students need a range of skills: social, communication, thinking, research, and self-management.

IB World Schools challenge students to become effective global citizens with international-mindedness as a priority in their thinking and problem-solving. Intensive language learning is central to this goal. Through authentic language and context, students learn about other cultures and perspectives and become more knowledgeable and caring. The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) recognizes the increasing mobility of the world population; therefore, IB students are learning and communicating in a second language, as well as in their native language. Mother-tongue maintenance and development are considered essential and are supported through individual school language policy documents.

The IB schools in MNPS understand that every teacher is a language teacher, facilitating student awareness of the power of communication through spoken and written languages. Teachers across the subject areas collaborate to ensure that students make cross-curricular connections and express them appropriately.

Middle Years Programme (MYP)

Using an inquiry-based approach to learning, the MYP promotes the Learner Profiles. A communicator is one who understands and expresses ideas and information confidently and creatively in more than one language and in a variety of modes of communication. The MYP stresses the fundamental importance of communication, both verbal and non-verbal, as the means through which cognitive growth is achieved. Students are required to learn an additional world language in the MYP.

While building toward student mastery of the English language, candidate and authorized MYP schools also provide pathways for continued concentration on students' additional languages of choice. For example, when students have studied Mandarin Chinese or French or Spanish in their Primary Years Programmes, they may choose to continue the study of the PYP second language at their MYP schools. To accommodate the learning needs, interests, and backgrounds of students moving from Primary Years Programmes to Middle Years Programmes, the MYP schools offer second language (Language B) choices appropriate for their students.

It is expected that, once students are in the MYP, they will remain with their selected second language for the five years of the programme so they may achieve a high level of fluency in Language B oral and written communication. In immersion classes, minimal English is used.

Approaches to language

English language learning

In accordance with the district policy, Madison will work to “Identify and Assess All Potential EL Students.”

• MNPS must then determine if potential EL students are eligible for EL services through a valid and reliable test that assesses English language proficiency in speaking, listening, reading and writing. Students in Kindergarten through 12th grade are assessed with the WIDA Screener. The assessment has no bearing on school assignment or grade placement. (Tennessee State Board Rule on English as a Second Language Programs, Chapter 0520-01-19 (PDF).)
• If students are identified as English learners, they will receive EL services during the regular school day from an English Learner (EL)-endorsed teacher. Once the student is identified and enrolled as an English learner, he or she is assessed annually for English proficiency through an English language learners test. If the student scores proficient, he or she will be “exited” from EL services.
• Services provided:
  • Small group instruction with English learner services
  • Strategic language instruction in reading, writing, listening, and speaking teacher for language development

School language profile

At Madison, our IB scholars engage with IB principles and philosophies through written curriculum and learning experiences that encourage the IB Learner Profiles, Approaches to Learning, and more rigorous, student-centered, inquiry-based instruction. Our building consists of 389 students, where 41% of students whose first language is not English. All students are instructed daily in English. Student languages present within our building are Burmese, Creoles, English, Ganda, Guarani, Kinyarwanda, Kurdish, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, and Tigrinya.

Language acquisition

Once we have gone through our candidacy process, our aim is to provide all students with access to Spanish as their World Language course. Due to a shortage of teachers, and especially language acquisition teachers, the Magnet School Assistance Program (MSAP) office is looking to discuss the option of using MEG language to provide opportunities for our students beyond the classroom.

Roles and responsibilities

School Leadership Team

The School Leadership Team will work to ensure a safe place of learning for students. The SLT will monitor classrooms as a place where students develop inquiry skills, take appropriate risks, and learn from their mistakes while engaging in authentic work.

©BMS22

IB Coordinator (IBC)

It is the role and responsibility of the IBC to model all attributes of the Learner Profile to the school community, support and provide learning opportunities and resources for teachers and staff, demonstrate approaches to teaching and learning, and effectively reflect for continued program growth in philosophy and practice.

©BMS22

Teaching and non-teaching staff

English Learners — Metro Nashville Public Schools

All members of the Madison faculty and staff will work collaboratively to support students to success in multiple facets of their school career. Differentiation and personalized learning time will occur to meet the needs of every learner in the classroom by using an inquiry-based approach that is concept driven, contextualized, and informed by assessment.

©BMS22

Students

Students will engage in the production of authentic work while adhering to district, school, and IB MYP policies. Students will have the opportunity to make mistakes and, in turn, reflect to learn from those mistakes. Students will have an understanding for each other during academically, social times of working in partnerships or groups.

©BMS22

Family and community

Madison and the IB MYP recognize the importance of family and community engagement on overall student success. Family and community support of the Language policy will enhance student learning as they strive to produce work that adheres to district, school, and IB policy. MSAP at Madison will work to increase family and community partnerships to provide a more language rich environment for students.

©BMS22

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