Chapter 3: Senior Project: A Culminating Assessment for 12^th Graders

This chapter focuses on Senior Project (SP), an initiative of SERVE, the federally funded educational laboratory serving the Southeast for 16 years. SP is usually defined as a culminating performance assessment for 12^th graders that helps determine what students know and can do as they graduate from high school. Senior Project was a SERVE study about performance assessments and their impact on students during the late 90s to the early 2000s. It is hoped that this chapter will inform educators about the advantages of SP implementation in high schools and the challenges associated with it.

This chapter includes SP research and a description of the SP materials that were developed. In addition, the components of a successful SP program are included and there is a discussion of the advantages of a well-designed Senior Project program.

Senior Project for 12^th graders includes a research paper on an approved topic of student choice, a complementary project, a student portfolio, and a presentation to community members.