MCA parents and students,

Turnitin is an internet-based service that promotes academic integrity and original thought from students. Turnitin screens for similarity (plagiarism) and detects unauthorized A.I. usage in writing.

During the Fall Semester, 9th-12th grade Great Books classes used Turnitin for major writing assignments to familiarize our tutors and students with its process.

Starting January 21, 2025, MCA will require all 9th-12th grade students of Great Books and Literature classes to submit their major writing assignments through Turnitin’s system. (At that time other 9th-12th grade classes may also require their students to submit major written work at the tutor's discretion.)

During the first two weeks of the semester, these 9th-12th grade Great Books classes will take time to review and ensure that students know how to submit their work properly through Turnitin.

MCA tutors will then begin to evaluate the feedback provided by Turnitin and take into consideration the information it provides to:

1.) Hold students accountable for academic honesty and original thought;

2.) More effectively coach our students in their writing;

3.) Determine if a violation of the honesty policy has occurred and disciplinary action is warranted.

Turnitin is not a replacement for wisdom. The feedback Turnitin provides will not to be used to render automatic judgments regarding MCA’s honesty policy. Tutors and Deans will continue to use their wisdom to make these decisions. But Turnitin’s feedback will be able to provide tutors and deans additional information and data points as they make these decisions.

• Tutors will continue to grade physical hardcopies of papers that are handed into class.
• Tutors will not submit a grade for major writing assignments in RenWeb/FACTS until the student has submitted their work through the appropriate Turnitin channel. If the assignment is not posted by the tutor’s deadline, the tutor will enter the grade as Missing, -0-, into RenWeb and explain this in the comment section for that assignment.
• Tutors will have a discussion with the student about the integrity of their work under one or more of the following scenarios:
  • the Turnitin Similarity Report comes back with 25 % similarity or greater
  • the A.I. Detection reports A.I. usage (when it was not permitted)
  • the tutor believes such a discussion would be beneficial
• The next course of action: Encouragement, coaching, further investigation, academic discipline will be determined following this conversation. Parents will be notified, per MCA policy, if academic discipline is likely.

Note: A high Similarity Report or a positive AI Detection are not automatic indicators that honesty policy has been violated. Likewise, a low Similarity Report or a negative AI Detection are not automatic indicators that there is not a violation of MCA’s honesty policy.

Junior High Turnitin Guidelines

• No 7th or 8th grade classes/students will be required to submit their work through Turnitin preemptively.
• Junior high tutors may ask for a digital copy of student’s work for the tutor to submit through Turnitin and evaluate to determine if follow-up and/or if an honesty policy violation has occurred.

Seniors' Thesis

MCA Seniors will also be required to submit their written thesis through Turnitin. (The specifics of how they will do this will be communicated at a later time).