An analysis of the Honor Code

I didn't have most of these thoughts at 9:05 a.m. last Thursday. In fact, I had about twenty minutes total to digest the five-page document and its impact on sense of academic integrity. But here, a week later, I decided to break it down.

HONOR CODE FOR MONTGOMERY BLAIR HIGH SCHOOLThe faculty of Montgomery Blair High School is committed to develop in its students, honesty and integrity in all academic assignments. The faculty believes that requiring its students to adhere to a code of honesty creates a community of learners who has a sense of mutual respect, trust, and fairness.

Excellent. We are going to be a community of honesty and mutual trust. Now let's get down to business.

The Honor CodeAs a member of Montgomery Blair's learning community, each student pledges him/herself to follow ethical standards toward all academic work.

Following this code will ensure a sense of honor and high principles in the student body.

Now that's interesting. Following this code ensures that students will become honorable. How easy. Why haven't rehabilitation centers figured this one out? Forget hard time in jail or expensive psychotherapy; just make criminals sign Law-Abiding Citizen codes outlining what is and isn't a crime. Now let's get to the Nine Commandments.

As a student of Montgomery Blair's Academic Community:1. I will not willfully or knowingly tell an untruth to the administration or a faculty member.

2. I will not take or appropriate with the intent of using or keeping the property of any other member of the Montgomery Blair community without his/her expressed permission for me to do so.

3. I will not forge the signature of an administrator, faculty or staff member, the attendance secretary, the nurse, or a parent/guardian on a letter, in the plan book, or on any other document and use this document as if it were a valid signature.

4. I will not violate testing procedures.

5. I will not commit any act of academic dishonesty such as using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids.

6. I will not intentionally fabricate or falsify any information or citation in any academic exercise.

7. I will not intentionally or knowingly help someone else violate the Honor Code.

8. I will not represent the words or ideas of another as my own work in any academic exercise.

9. I will not wear someone else's ID and pass it off as my own.

Thou shalt not lie; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not forge; thou shalt not cheat on tests; thou shalt not cheat on anything; thou shalt not bear false witness; thou shalt not aid and abet; thou shalt not plagiarize; thou shalt not swap IDs.Wait, what was that last one?

Yes, apparently being academically honest includes not trying to get around Blair's ID policy, even if forgetting your ID makes you miss valuable class time or even prevent you from taking an exam. Very few students in the school believe that they should be forced to wear IDs; few would call it "dishonesty" to borrow an ID for a couple of period. How are students supposed to accept the very serious aspects of this "honor code" if ID policy is tacked on? If anything, that's a security issue; it certainly has nothing to do with being a member of an academic community.

Definition of Academic Dishonesty:Violations of Testing Procedures include, but are not limited to:

1. Talking during a test or talking while others are taking a test;

2. Copying from others during a test or examination:

3. Collaborating on a test, quizzes, or project without permission;

4. Using hand gestures, signals, or other forms of communication between people taking a test or quiz;

5. Bringing unauthorized papers into a test room on which answers have been previously written;

6. Using unauthorized materials to complete an examination or-assignment;

7. Programming of notes, formulas, or other aids into a calculator without prior permission;

8. Copying parts of an exam and giving it to other students who have to take the test;

9. Changing, altering, or being an accessory to changing or altering a grade on a test, assignment, or project;

10. Violating any other specific procedures specified by the teacher.

This section isn't too bad. Perhaps some students don't consider it cheating to store a formula in their TI-83. Here the school is saying, "Yes, that is cheating. Do not do that. If you are caught, you will be punished for cheating." However, I'm pretty sure that students already understood that using sign language during a test is dishonest. What about this document makes it an honor code and not just the rules?

Definitions of Fabrication include, but are not limited to:1. Citing of information not taken from the source indicated. This may include incorrect documentation of secondary source material;

2. Listing sources in a bibliography not used in an academic exercise;

3. Submitting a paper or other academic exercise in which there is fictitious data, or deliberately or knowingly concealing or distorting the data;

4. Submitting as your own any academic exercise prepared totally or in part by another.

Now this is something useful. Some of my teachers have explained to me that students coming out of middle school might not understand exactly what acts constitute cheating. (How these kids will be helped now, in the middle of the school year, isn't clear to me.) But now anyone who reads, understands, and agrees to this document will know what not to do. Don't put extra sources on your bibliography to impress the teacher and don't quote information from somewhere that you didn't get it from. With outlines like this, maybe students can understand what being "honest" means.

Definitions of Plagiarism include, but are not limited to:1. Quoting another person's words, sentences, paragraphs, or entire work without acknowledging the source of the work;

2. Utilizing another person's words or thoughts without acknowledging the source of the information;

3. Copying another student's paper and submitting it as your own;

4. Copying or allowing another person to copy a computer file that contains another person's work;

5. Working together on a work and them submitting two separate copies of the work as one's individual work;

6. Copying the ideas of another's artistic work or handing in another's artistic work as if it were one's own;

7. Violating any other specific procedure specified by a teacher.

Some of these are straightforward but others are dangerously vague. What if another artist's work is an inspiration for something of your own? What if your friend helps you brainstorm a topic for an essay?

The Faculty's Responsibility:It is the responsibility of all faculty members, to the best of their ability, to maintain the integrity of the learning process. As each semester begins, each faculty member is responsible for explaining the honor code as it applies to tests, quizzes, term papers, notebooks, projects, examinations, reports, homework, or any other work.

Each faculty member should provide a rubric for all extensive projects or special assignments. In the rubric, quality points should be specified for each section of the work assigned and graded. Information should be detailed as to the extent to which the use of study aids, data, collaboration with others, outside sources is permissible, and if so, how to document these inclusions properly.

Each faculty member should carefully review all the points that constitute plagiarism so students are fully aware of the pitfalls.

This is an excellent section of the Honor Code. Finally, we have something that resembles a community of students and teachers. This also gives light to one of the Honor Code's flaws: teachers did not have to sign it. If students must agree to follow this code, shouldn't teachers and administrators have to hold up their end of the bargain? After all, they're saying that they can't trust students unless they sign a piece of paper. Either students are especially untrustworthy (an attitude that undermines the whole "mutual trust" idea) or teachers should sign it too.

Consequences for Violation of the Honor Code:

(As deemed appropriate, the administrator/teacher will apply some/all consequences from the following list)1. The student who does not tell the truth or who is found in possession of something that has been reported lost or stolen by another will be subject to the penalties stated below that apply and to possible involvement with the law enforcement officers.

2. The student who violates the Honor Code will receive a zero for the quiz, test, term paper, report, or project.

3. The teacher must contact the parent/guardian about the violation as soon as he/she is certain that it has occurred.

4. The teacher will report the infraction to both the student's administrator and counselor.

5. A student-administrator-parent conference/phone call will also be held.

6. The student who hands in another's artistic work as if it were his/her own or copies another's idea and hands in the work for a grade will receive a zero and the above consequences apply.

7. The student may suffer other consequences depending on the special programs, clubs, or teams on which the student participates.

8. The student who violates the honor code may also be suspended and, depending on the infraction may be recommended for expulsion.

The next big flaw of the honor code: the law enforcement authorities, teacher, parent/guardian, administrator, counselor, and club sponsor all get notified of the violation. When do they tell the student? Your parents are having a conference call with the principal and you've been recommended for expulsion before someone happens to mention that you're in trouble, presumably when you try to show up the next day and the attendance roster lists you as "absent--suspended." Is there anything the student can do about it?

Appeal Process:The student who feels he/she is being unjustly accused of violating the Honor Code can appeal to his/her administrator or to the administrator or Resource Teacher who heads the Honor Council.

Depending on the severity of the infraction, a teacher may refer a student to the Honor Council if he/she feels the student has violated the Honor Code and further involvement of impartial people are warranted.

A student who is to speak before the council may request that his counselor/mentor, another student, or parent/guardian be with him during the hearing. It is understood that the person accompanying the student is present to support the student and not participate in the discussion.

Upon request to convene the council, the administrator and the resource teacher will contact the parent, and convene the hearing as soon as possible. The presiding administrator will provide the decision of the council to the parent and the student.

The student may appeal the decision of the council to the Principal of Montgomery Blair High School following the procedure outlined for appealing a decision to the principal found in the MBHS student plan book.

Whew, an appeals process. If the student's teacher or administrator agrees, he gets to face a council of teachers, alone. And does the student get an impartial jury? Nope. It's a council of teachers listening to the student's word -- unsupported by any witnesses he'd like to speak on his behalf -- against a teacher's word.Please note: I understand that the Bill of Rights does not always apply to students in all areas, such as freedom of speech or proper search and seizure. Although students have some rights -- no cruel and unusual punishments, at least -- there's no reason to expect a fair jury of their peers. No reason, except that maybe, just maybe, the administration would like to show us a bit of that "mutual trust" they keep telling us about.

The Honor Council's Membership:All Resource Teachers

Ms. McGinn

Ms. Wanner

Depending on the circumstances surrounding the situation brought before the council, the presiding administrator and the resource teacher will ask another resource teacher to sit on the council to hear the appeal under consideration.

Sources:

The Code of Academic Integrity of the MBHS Communications Arts Program

The Duke University Undergraduate Honor Code

The University of Maryland College Park, Code of Academic Integrity

The George Mason University Honor Code

Defenders of this document point to the fact that most universities require students to sign an honor code. But look at the major difference between a typical college honor code and Blair's: student involvement. Every college I have visited has a student honor council (or students on a council) that not only sets policy but judges appealed cases. Blair's code has no hint of student involvement.

I understand, support, and agree to follow Montgomery Blair's Honor Code.(Student's signature)

(date)

(Printed signature)

(ID Number)

(Home phone number)

And finally, we have the infamous agreement. Teachers were instructed to tell their students that they must sign or "go talk to the administrator," although some teachers didn't carry out the threat. Some of my friends crossed out the word support so that their note read "I understand and agree to follow Montgomery Blair's Honor Code" -- along the line of Joe Howley's editorial. I briefly entertained the idea of refusing to sign and forming a political protest with my friends in the administrator's office. Then I realized that I have a statistics test next week and I really can't afford to miss class. I sighed and gave in, even though I didn't support the document I was signing.How ironic -- my first act under the new honor code was to lie.