CULMINATING PROJECT FOR GRADUATION

Get Involved | Map the Curriculum | Timeline | Guidelines | Resources | Hints and Help

What is the Culminating Project?

The Washington State school reform includes a culminating project required for graduation in 2008. Many schools who have been requiring a Culminating project for 12th grade are now adding this type of project to earlier grades such as 5th or 6th or 8th. It is a culminating project of the K12 school years.

State Board of Education
OSPI details and OSPI help with a service component

WAC 180-51-061
"Footnote 8: Each student shall complete a culminating project for graduation. The project consists of the student demonstrating both their learning competencies and preparations related to learning goals three and four. Each district shall define the process to implement this graduation requirement, including assessment criteria, in written district policy."

The culminating project is an integral part of the 4 P's -pathway, plan, portfolio, and project. The plan and project are new graduation requirements by the State Board of Education. The pathways is part of the Legislative requirement under school reform and the portfolio is the means to show that these pieces are there when a student graduates.

Fall 2006 update:

Cashmere High School - under 500 students 1A school- project covers 4 years- advisor for the 4 years that meets once a month. Project presented in senior year during Contemporary World Problems Class. Contact Linda Hightower

Curtis High School, University Place SD- 1400 students gr. 10-12, coherts with same teacher meet once a month for an hour for the three years to accomplish the goals. Contact Judy Carlson.

The student portfolio has four sections: 

 

1.  High School and Beyond Documents (goal setting, personal statement,

plans for life after high school, etc.)

2.  Career/College Documents (transcript, attendance narrative, career

research, employability skills, etc.)

3.  Academic Achievement (Best Works selected from each class, and Best

Works written justifications related to achieving Goals 3 and 4)

4.  Senior Project Documents (essential question description requiring

approval, research and annotated bibliography, applied activity, written

reflective narrative)

 

The portfolios are formally evaluated by the students' cohort leaders

using a rubric at the end of each semester.  The students are given a

"Making Normal Progress" or "Not Making Normal Progress" comment on report

cards.  Guidance in improvement along with encouragement to do well in all

classes and instructional assistance is also provided to cohort group

members with the intent being that no student will fall through the cracks

or be "left behind" in any of their school work.

 

The Senior Project is taught and monitored in the Senior Social Studies

classes.  Students select a topic of interest that ideally is a logical

outgrowth of their High School and Beyond Plan and will lead to a career

or special interest pursuit.  They write a proposal, have it approved,

conduct background research and create an annotated bibliography, devise

an applied activity to carry out, write a reflective narrative summary of

the learning, and ultimately present it at their Senior Boards

Presentations.

 

Senior Board Presentations are held in the spring.  Each senior presents

themselves and their portfolio with an emphasis on three components:

 

1.  proof of accomplishment of the State Learning Goals

2.  High School and Beyond Plan

3.  Senior Project

 

The Senior Board panels are comprised of community members, District and

high school staff members, and high school juniors so they have an

opportunity to experience what they will be doing as seniors the following

year.  Students presenting are to have a visual aid to enhance their

presentation in addition to their portfolio, either electronic or realia,

and to dress appropriately for the event.  Presentations must be no

shorter than 8 minutes and no longer than 12 minutes.  Panels evaluate the

portfolio and presentations based on a rubric.  Verbal and written

feedback is provided to students.  Those not meeting standard are given a

second opportunity to present to a panel of high school administrators and

staff.

 

The Curtis High School Culminating Project is under constant review and

revision for improvement.

Summary of the 4 P's

Career pathways Legislative RCW 284.655.060-"Upon receiving the certificate of mastery, schools shall provide the opportunity to pursue career and educational objectives through educational pathways that emphasize integration of academic and vocational education."

The OSPI Career and Technical Education department has been working on this

5 year plan including high school and the year beyond high school graduation State Board of Educational graduation requirement- "Students shall have an education plan for their high school experience including what they expect to do the year following graduation."

Portfolio compilation of student work and pathway progress, plan, project, and credits

Culminating project - OSPI details

Be Proactive, Get Involved:

The library media specialist is in a unique position to assist in the planning and implementation of the culminating project. As a teacher, you see all students and curriculum. The schools needs your perspective of how to integrate the project within the current assignments and departments of your school. As a researcher, you can provide vital models, assessment tools and mentors in the process. As a media specialist, you have the equipment and scheduling skills if your school chooses to have students present to a community panel to demonstrate their competencies. While this is not a requirement of the project, many schools use the panel format to demonstrate competencies. You may also offer any specific skills you have in assessment, electronic file management, individualizing instruction, and as a resource person and place for students needing help. There are no state funds allocated to implement the culminating project, so each school will be seeking expertise from the staff. The library media specialist is a key person because of his or her skills.

Map the curriculum:
What Is a Curriculum Map?

A map of a school's curriculum is an analysis of the current instructional program. It includes:

learning objectives

essential content

resources used and needed

assessment tools and process

time frame

What is the Purpose and Advantages of a Curriculum Map?

To document what is actually being taught -this may be different from scope and sequence or frameworks

To provide an overview of the year's curriculum

To facilitate prioritizing essential content learning

To ensure required content is presented

To facilitate integrating content around themes

To facilitate integrating thinking skills into the curriculum

To foster integration of content areas with information literacy skills

To identify gaps in instruction

To identify needed resources

 
A curriculum map can serve a librarian well in several areas. It helps in developing an effective schedule of library instruction, facilitates the logical integration of information literacy skills with classroom curriculum, and maximizes the use of resources. It can be used in conjunction with a collection development plan to make wise purchases of new resources. Lastly, it can be used in the development of plans for the Culminating Project. A high school librarian who brings to the Culminating Project planning meeting a well-constructed curriculum map will be greatly appreciated.

In the Culminating Project planning process, consideration will need to be given to student skills in a variety of areas. The curriculum map can help everyone see, at a glance, what courses cover those particular skills. It will save countless hours of information gathering and additional meeting time if the school librarian, who is familiar with much of the school curriculum, has taken the time to create a curriculum map.

Curriculum Map format examples.

Planning Timeline:

Knowing that the State Board of Education has stipulated a graduation requirement for the 2007-2008 school year, it is important to begin looking at a timeline that will allow for the time needed to plan, implement, and refine the parameters of a culminating project. What follows is an example of the steps that might be needed:

Planning

Assemble a planning team to include teachers, administrators, parents, students, community members

Gather information

Hold planning meetings

Develop parameters of Culminating Project (some of the best have incremental stages with skill development through each of the high school years)**

Consider whether Culminating Project will be graded for credit or pass/no pass

Create documents/manuals for students, parents, teachers, assessors to include instructions, instructional tools, and assessment tools

Consider what contingencies may be needed, e.g. how to provide additional assistance to struggling students

Consider adaptations for special groups, e.g. Special Education, ESL, Running Start

Develop a tracking system for maintaining records of student progress and results of Culminating Project

Follow District process for necessary approvals

Develop public relations action plan for disseminating information

 
Implementation

Include all students

Keep notes on what works, what needs revision, what needs to be added (these should be small, fine-tuning revisions at this point). It is best not to make midcourse corrections during the ongoing school year to avoid confusion among students.

Solicit feedback from staff, students, parents, and community members

Make any changes to documents at end of the year

Apprise District staff, parents, and community of progress

Keep accurate records of student achievement

Graduation Requirement

** Note: Additional steps from planning through implementation will be needed if there are to be incremental steps from grades 9-12 preparing students for the skills needed for the Culminating Project, for example:

Grade 9---a 3-minute demonstration in Science course
Grade 10---a 5-minute persuasive presentation in English course along with a 5-8 page research paper
Grade 11---a 7-minute analytical oral and PowerPoint presentation in Social Studies course.

Guidelines:

The State Board of Education provides a web site about Culminating Projects. They have also developed some essential questions and project guidelines. Since the project details are determined at the local level, this is a good place to begin for the basics. The site also provides some resources from schools that have experience with culminating projects.

Projects should showcase learning competencies, especially work preparation and critical thinking (Essentials Learnings 3 and 4)

Projects should include community involvement

Published guidelines and assessments are essential

All students shall complete a project and have a role in it's construction

Schools need a management system for monitoring completion over the years in conjunction with the educational plan

Guiding Principles:

Clear purpose-The purpose can be clearly communicated to all stakeholders

Aligned-Outcomes are aligned with school, district,and state mission and goals

Explicit criteria- Performance is assessed by application of established criteria

Student-directed learning-The student takes responsibility for selecting, planning, and implementing his/her own goals.

Learning stretch-The project poses a challenge that requires significant new learning.

Authentic- Student applies core essential learning beyond the traditional classroom setting to address a real problem or fulfill a genuine need.

Community involvement-Members of the broader community play an important role in culminating projects as mentors, panelists, advisors and/or recruiters

principles from Serviceline vol. 13 No. 1 Winter 2003

Mercer Island High School Project Committee made a matrix of their research into the pieces of the project implemented at 8 different Washington High Schools

Possible key features and management pieces form their matrix:

Demonstration of knowledge through research paper, project report, portfolio, reflection letter, log book or journal, cd of work, community service

Presentation-written, oral, visual aids, panel (day or evening), presentations each year

Assessment through rubric, checklist,accommodations for Special education and/ors ESL levels of performance, work recognition

Student support through advisors, teacher mentors, field experts, class requirement, time logs, information booklet, field experience contract, parent communication letter, student contract

Management through supervisor, administrator, additional FTE or stipends, training, online forms, initial and follow-up communication

Budget through initial startup grants, staff training, secretarial support, presentation costs, ongoing costs

Managing department is often shared by all or overseen by English, Social Studies or Vocational Education

Resources:

Reminder: Please model good intellectual property rights by following copyright laws and requesting permission to use or adapt materials created by others.

Resources to Prepare Project:

Washington State Board of Education- Culminating Project

Presentation of culminating project information

OSPI - Essential Academic Learning Requirements

Several for profit companies are available to assist districts with the culminating project requirements. We are choosing to list organizations and school resources.

National Organization SERVE in North Carolina provides resources and examples of senior projects with a community focus. In their publications section there are three complimentary short videos available to explain the project, assess the presentation, and to guide mentors about their role with students.

FarWest EDGE, Inc. Senior Project Training and supporting documents

National Commission on the High School Senior Year

Curriculum mapping:

Sample chapters from Heidi Hayes Jacobs book Mapping the Big Picture:Integrating curriculum and assessment K12. ASCD. 1997

Interview with Heidi Hayes Jacobs

NREL site-electronic maps with login

Walter Minkel web site summarizes the librarian's role and commercial tools for curriculum mapping.

Dr. Mike Eisenberg and Robert Berkowitz have a sample curriculum mapping data entry sheet in their book The New Improved Big6 Workshop Handbook. Linworth. 1999 that is also used the k12 Library Initiative for Washington State school libraries under forms.

Everett Public Schools- information at the District site and three complete handbooks published at each high school: Cascade, Everett and Henry M. Jackson. They have included many electronic aspects for monitoring and sharing information. This is good example of district policies, then different school plans.

Lake Washington School District has detailed handbooks and checklists for their plans to show competencies

Mercer Island School District has online information.

Bellingham School District

Mt. Si High School- details about the project with examples and efolio examples.

Anacortes High School has information for their senior project using the Big 6 format created by their library media specialist.

Sumner High School provides a culminating project and job shadow packet

Mountlake Terrace High School powerpoint explanation of Sr. Project

Kids Consortium. Kids as planners. Lewiston, ME. 2001. 0-9710990-0-6 http://www.kidsconsortium.org 207-784-0956

Kielbruger, Marc & Craig. Take Action! A guide to active citizenship. John Wiley. 2002. 0471271322.

Learning that Lasts: How service-learning can become an integral part of schools, states and communities. Denver, CO. Education Commission of the States. 2002. http://www.ecs.org. 303-299-3600

My Portfolio Creator. Free CD with teacher guide- sent to superintendents in December 2002 from ESD 112, Vancouver from a School-to-Work grant. All Washington State Schools may use and modify. Staff training is available.

Serviceline- a free quarterly newsletter from OSPI Learn and Serve Office- call 360-725-6104.

Wee, Patricia Hachten. Independent projects step by step: A handbook for senior projects, graduation projects and culminating projects. Lanham, MD:Scarecrow Press. 2000.

The majority of the book (over 100 pages) are sample projects ideas including two complete projects with paperwork from start to finish. There are forms-approval, consent, progress checklist, and evaluation and 11 worksheets. The steps for the projects will look familiar to library media specialists.

Resources to Do Project:

Information literacy sources on WLMA site
Big 6 site for possible steps in the process
Research cycle for possible steps in the process

Bibliography Assistance

MLA Click on "MLA Style" and then "Frequently Asked Questions about MLA style" listed on the left hand column

www.easybib.com

Citation Machine David Warlick of Landmark Project

Citation Maker online help from the Oregon librarians-elementary version

Noodlebib- Free use for short entries. This online bibliography creator started charging a fee for a school license that includes keeping your work. It provides saving, downloading and access to an electronic entry of all forms of text, web and media bibliography. The Noodletools site also includes other research electronic tools.

Online mentors

AskA+Locator This locator contains over 70 AskA services form a variety of subjects. From the Virtual Reference Desk Project

Ask a expert

Internet Public Library "Ask a Question"

Resources to Present and Assess Projects:

Assessment help for forming checklists and rubrics

www.4teachers.org A free service from Advanced Learning Technologies at the University of Kansas which includes checklists and rubrics that you can edit, save and print.

Presentation hints and tutorials such as:

Advice for giving effective presentations

Dr. Lynell Burmark- Thornburg Center-effective multimedia presentations

Powerpoint tutorial including design tips

Effective oral presentations

Top

Hints and Help to Share:

Published assessment pieces should be in place before projects begin

Provide parent informational meetings

Timing of presentations should allow seniors to finish and also complete end of the year class assignments

District restrictions for liability, risks and safety should be clearly published with the name of a key person for questions

Integration within the curriculum and throughout the high school years is important for success

Presentation panel members may include incoming year students to provide peer feedback and to show students a model

Midyear changes to requirements causes confusion and frustration with students and the public, and should be avoided

There is a variety of ways to achieve the final goal- lifelong learners!

There are several ways that library media center programs can assist the school in the culminating project. A recent brainstorming session included:

1.Availability- the library is available all school hours to all students and there is a trained adult present. Therefore, the library is a logical place to provide copies of checklists, deadlines, benchmarks, assessments, and directions.
2. Resources- Many schools need assistance with the career resources or access to materials beyond the walls of the school. Basic information literacy training through the k12 years will help students be successful in this project. The library may also provide professional materials about service learning, project-based learning, portfolios, and electronic resources for staff use.
3. Collaboration-The integrated approach needed amongst the staff is familiar to librarians who work collaboratively with their staff. Librarians need to be a team player with all large projects happening in the school.
4. Place-The library is a neutral and welcoming place and thus provides a connection with the community. The library can be the meeting place for parent informational nights, mentors to meet with students, and the presentation celebration panels.
5. Community resources-The library can maintain a database of community resources or show students how to find them through the telephone book, public library local databases, or a community agency that already compiles the information.
6. Recognition-The library can provide display space, pictures and posters of ongoing projects, and list of who is working on what issue.

WLMA Task Force 2002-2004
Co-chairs: Nadean Meyer, Medical Lake High School and Linda Hightower, Cashmere High
Members: Judy Carlson Curtis Sr. High, University Place; Kathy Kugler, Foster High, Tukwila; Eve Datisman, Forks High School; Camille Hefty, Washington High , Franklin-Pierce; Lynne Webb, Anacortes High School, Gail Anderson, Mountlake Terrace High School, Edmonds
created 6-02
updated 1-7-07