Programme coordinators

Expectations

Programme coordinators hold an essential role and must understand that the principle of academic integrity is fundamental to the educational philosophy of the IB. They should act as role models and must always exhibit honest, ethical and responsible behaviour. Programme coordinators must maintain a pedagogical leadership and are responsible for ensuring that all teaching and learning activities are carried out in accordance with the rules, policies and guidelines stipulated by the IB. They must also ensure that all staff involved in the delivery of IB programmes, including teachers, teaching assistants, special education coordinators, counsellors, librarians and laboratory assistants, receive adequate training so that students have the best educational experience possible. An important expectation of the coordinator's role is to organize meetings with teachers, students and their parents or legal guardians to explain the academic integrity policy and respond to any questions that may arise. All members of the school community should read and understand the expectations of the school and the IB regarding academic integrity; therefore, all the necessary policy and regulatory documents should be easily accessible to everyone, preferably available on the school’s website. As a pedagogical leader, the coordinator must ensure that the subject guides and all rules and regulations are strictly followed and that the IB regulations are applied consistently and fairly. In collaboration with teachers, the coordinator must take responsibility for ensuring that class schedules and calendars are appropriate, allowing students to realistically meet the demands of the programme and course of studies. Coordinators and teachers are expected to design and develop classroom activities and educational strategies to support all students, who must receive the time and opportunity to learn the skills necessary for overcoming any challenges of the programme. Programme coordinators must avoid conflicts of interest, apparent or real, and acts that may constitute maladministration. Coordinators are also expected to act decisively when an incident of academic misconduct or maladministration occurs, which must be reported immediately to the school’s leadership and the IB, as appropriate.

Responsibilities

The programme coordinators are responsible for maintaining an overall supervision of all activities related to the teaching and learning process at the school. As pedagogical leaders, they must maintain an excellent communication with the team of teachers, with the students and their parents or legal guardians. The coordinators must also manage the necessary resources with the school leadership team to ensure that the teachers receive the training specified by the IB and that the other resources required for teaching, for example library, laboratories and computer equipment, receive sufficient budget. To facilitate the tasks of those involved in IB programmes, the coordinators must ensure that all regulations, policies and subject guides are easily located both in printed format in the library and electronic in the school's web portal. Focusing on processes for managing academic integrity incidents, programme coordinators must support all the tasks listed in the Responsibilities in the "School leadership team" section and are also responsible for: • ensuring that all school and IB policies are applied fairly and consistently • ensuring compliance with secure storage of confidential IB material policy and the conduct of IB examinations

• ensuring that teachers, students and parents and legal guardians have a copy, read and understand the school’s academic integrity policy and the programme relevant IB regulations • reporting suspected instances of student academic misconduct and school maladministration to the school administration and/or the IB • supervising all activities related to the investigation of student academic misconduct and school maladministration cases according to the school and/or IB policy.