Comprehensive Discipline Management Plan Investigation

Michelle Williams
EAD 513

In reviewing our school’s discipline plan, I see that Pearson has the best interest of all

students in mind. Pearson expects that all students adhere to academic honesty and uses it as a

core value for students. Connections Academy is a study at home education program. Parents

sign up as Learning Coach. As Learning Coach, the parent is required to take charge of their

child’s learning. When enrolling in North Carolina Connections Academy, both students and

Learning Coaches sign the Student Code of Conduct. Areas addressed in the Code of Conduct

are Academic Dishonesty which includes cheating on tests and assignments and plagiarism.

Prohibited behaviors such as harassment, intimidation, cyber bullying are also addressed in the

discipline plan. Truancy is also addressed in our School’s code of conduct.

Academic Dishonesty is addressed according to grade levels. In grades K-8, students

who are academically dishonest- 1st offense, the teacher is required to contact the parent or

Learning Coach and review why the student’s work was considered plagiarized and discuss ways

to avoid the academic dishonesty from happening again. Students are given the opportunity to

resubmit the assignment and receive full credit. If the student is academically dishonest a second

time, the teacher must contact the parent or Learning Coach the second time to discussed the

dishonesty. The student will have an opportunity to redo the assignment for half of the credit. If

there is a third offense, the student must meet with the principal and parent or leaning coach. The

student will receive a zero on the assignment. At that meeting it will be explained that if the

academic dishonesty happens a third time, the student will be suspended or expelled from

Connections Academy.
 A student in grades 9-12 first offense requires that the teacher notify the student, parent

or Learning Coach and review why they assignment was plagiarized. Ways to avoid plagiarism

is discussed. The student may then turn in the assignment for1/2 credit. If academic dishonesty

happens a second time, the teacher is to contact the student, parent or Learning Coach, review

what the assignment was plagiarized and discuss the consequences of a third offense. Should the

academic dishonesty happen a third time, it is considered chronic plagiarism. The third offense is

reviewed by the principal. The third offense may result in suspension or expulsion.

Prohibited Behaviors-If a student is perceive as bullying another student or exhibiting

prohibited behavior, the teacher or person witnessing the behavior is to notify the child’s teacher,

the principal or the governing board. The principal will investigate the complaint and collect

witness statements and write a written report. The student who was affected is given a copy of

his/he rights and provided support services. The offending student may face one of 3

consequences: 1-Warning, 2-Suspension or 3-Expulson. Disciplinary action depends on the

severity of the offense.

Truancy-Students at Connections Academy are required to participate in instruction

twenty eight and one-half hours per week. Learning Coaches are responsible to logging

attendance daily. If a student is going to be absent, the Learning Coach must log the absence and

provide a written excuse as to why the student was absent. Students who are habitually absent,

the student’s teacher will create an escalation Issue Aware which is sent to the school social

worker. The social worker calls the parent to discuss the student’s absences. If truancy continues,

a truancy meeting is held. After 3 truancy meetings, it is considered educational neglect. The

school notifies the authorities. Connections Academy has zero tolerance for truancy. We believe,

if a child is not attending school, he/she is not learning.

 Summary of Findings

Through my investigation of our Code of Conduct and Discipline Management Plan and

interviewing my principal, I feel that Pearson Education addressed areas that are relevant to our

school. Rules are put into place to insure that all student feel safe in their learning environment.

Our Code of Conduct and Discipline Management Plan tie in with our school’s vison and

mission statements. Differentiation is evident from grade level to grade level. As the student

increase in their grade, they are held more accountable. The younger grades are not ignored.

They are made aware of the consequences and given more opportunities to correct the behavior. I

also realized that the brick and mortar setting also have the same issues to deal with, but a virtual

school focus is addressing behavior virtually.

Interview Questions
Did you or the governing board contribute to the creation of our school’s Code of Conduct and
Discipline Plan? No. The Code of Conduct and Discipline Plan was in place when the state
accepted the proposal to adopt us as one of the first virtual school public charter school in North
Carolina.
Who drafted the NCCA’s Code of Conduct and Discipline Plan? Pearson Education
Is the Code of Conduct and Discipline Management Plan the same at all Connections Academy
Schools? Yes.
Did the administrative team have the option of creating a new plan altering the plan that was
provided? No, when North Carolina first adopted Connections Academy as a virtual school, we
knew very little about the virtual environment. We adopted our discipline policy and Code of
Conduct from Pearson Education. We knew that in adopting Pearson’s Code of Conduct and
discipline plan all of our bases would be covered. This adoption is also required.
If you could, would you change anything about our Code of Conduct and Discipline Plan? No, I
feel that Pearson has been in the virtual school business for many years. They have addressed all
issues that I would not think to address, because the virtual setting is so new to North Carolina.