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Honor Code Values
The North Dakota Center for Distance Education (NDCDE) is a member of the International Center for Academic Integrity. As such, it adheres to The Fundamental Values of Academic Integrity, which NDCDE refers to as its “honor code values.” They are defined as follows:
- Honesty: Acting truthfully; taking tests and completing assignments without help unless your teacher allows you to use help; not helping others with assignments and tests unless your teacher allows you to do so; and providing facts, not made-up information.
- Trust: Earning others’ respect by being honest and keeping promises; being willing to accept and believe what others tell you.
- Fairness: Being open-minded and treating others equally.
- Respect: Listening to your teacher, taking their advice, and finding ways to use it to improve; being kind to others no matter how fast or slow they learn or how much they may be different from you; being on time when meeting with teachers; following your learning coach’s instructions; and being courteous when others are sharing their thoughts and ideas.
- Responsibility: Following NDCDE policies and your teacher’s instructions; being willing to accept the good and bad consequences of your actions; and setting aside enough time to study and complete coursework.
- Bravery: Not being afraid to ask questions, following your teacher and learning coach’s instructions and expectations even when this could be hard to do, telling a teacher or learning coach when you think another NDCDE student is not following the honor code values, and being willing to try your best even if you did not succeed at first.
NDCDE teachers will work hard to help you understand the above values and look for ways to recognize students trying their best to follow them.
Honor Code Pledges
Your teacher may require you to read and agree to the following pledge before starting an NDCDE course.
- Elementary honor code pledge: My parent and I reviewed NDCDE’s honor code values together, and I asked questions about the values and examples I did not understand. These values are honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility, and bravery. I promise to always try my best to follow these values, especially when acting as a student. I will ask questions when unsure how to follow the values when taking my courses and completing my assignments.
What to do when an NDCDE student, learning coach, or staff member may not be following the honor code:
- If you think another NDCDE student may not be following this policy, you should tell your learning coach or any NDCDE teacher. Your learning coach can share your concern with an NDCDE teacher if they are the person you choose to tell.
- If you believe that your learning coach is not following this policy, please share this with any of your NDCDE teachers.
- If you think an NDCDE staff member, such as a teacher, may not be following the honor code, ask your learning coach to contact an NDCDE principal. Principals can be reached through our website (https://www.cde.nd.gov/about-us/contact-us), at ndcde.learning@k12.nd.us, or 701-298-4830.
What may happen when the honor code is not followed?
- A teacher will talk to you and your learning coach to learn more about what happened. They want to know if you knew the honor code rules and broke them on purpose, or if you accidentally didn't follow the rules without knowing.
- The teacher will share this information with our principals, and one of them will review the information your teacher collected along with all your other academic records.
- The principal will make a final decision about the reported honor code violation and work with your teacher(s) on a solution. Most of the time, your teacher will then help you to better understand the policy for the future. If the principal finds that you intentionally ignored the honor code policy, there may be other consequences based on what you did. The principal or a teacher will explain these consequences to you and your learning coach and why they decided on them.