Senior Project® (SP) is a challenging, student-driven, performance-based, and teacher-guided culminating program that incorporates traditional and performance based teaching and curricula strategies and merges strong, basic knowledge and skills with real world applications.  SP involves multiple assessments including not only basic literacy and numeracy skills, but it also addresses 21st century skills such as project design, initiative and self direction, time management, social and cross-cultural skills, flexibility and adaptability, productivity and accountability, technology, leadership, and responsibility.

This performance-based program provides a research-based structure to implement project-based learning.  Senior Project® high schools require 12th grade students to show what they know and can do by competently completing the four components of SP: Research Paper, Project, Presentation, and Portfolio. A result of requiring a capstone project like SP is that it ensures and promotes the implementation of middle and secondary instruction curriculum standards and benchmarks.  Senior Project® schools have shown evidence that when a capstone project is created, grades 4 through 11 immediately focus on the necessary skills/knowledge driven by the capstone. SP provides needed rigor and relevance, transforming a “nothing new” senior year to a pivotal year.  Now, after more than 20 years, this program continues to grow and develop as more states are requiring Senior Project® as a graduation requirement.

Below are two videos on project-based learning and assessment, and additional resource links and downloads are available HERE.

Project-Based Learning: An Overview (Edutopia)


Assessment Overview: Beyond Standardized Testing (Edutopia)