Senior Capstone
Experience Framework
A Guide for South Dakota Schools
Senior Capstone Experience
 What are Senior Capstone
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Experiences?
Why a South Dakota
Framework?
Is this required for all
South Dakota schools?
Why implement Senior
Capstone Experiences?
How do we implement
Senior Capstone
Experiences?
Where do we find the time?
“Enter to Learn: Leave to Achieve”
 A Rationale for
Senior
Capstone
Experiences….
Senior Capstone Experiences…..
 provide the context for authentic learning –
the pursuit of knowledge and skills for
solving specific problems encountered in the
process of accomplishing a larger task –
rather than the kind of decontextualized or
decentralized learning that takes place in
many classrooms.
The Senior Experience…
 is a high school capstone that requires
students to demonstrate not only what
they know, but what they can do.
 States, school districts, and high schools focusing on
restructuring, raising high school standards, and
actively engaging all Seniors in a challenging and
relevant educational process incorporate the Senior
Capstone Experience.
Senior Capstone Experience
Four Phases
 Paper
 Product
 Portfolio
 Presentation
Senior Experiences and Your
School
 …..Designing a Quality System that involves
students, teachers, parents, and the
community
Elements of a High Quality
Senior Capstone Program
 Clear and Aligned Purpose
 Explicit, Rigorous Criteria
 Student-Directed Learning and Youth
Engagement
 Clear Scaffolding of Skills
 Learning Stretch
 Authentic Project
 Community Involvement
 Authentic Audience
Elements of a High Quality
Senior Capstone Program
 Coordination and Comprehensive
Communication
 Adequate Staffing and Supervision
 Mechanism for Training Community Partners
 Parent Involvement
 Professional Development
 Risk Management Plan
 Celebration and Recognition
Using the Senior Experience
Framework
 The Senior Experience
Framework is intended to
be a “menu” for school
districts to use in
designing a local Senior
Capstone Experience
program.
Implementing the Senior
Capstone Experience
 Organize
 Plan
 Design
 Implement
 Evaluate
Step One: Organizing
 As planning gets underway, reflect on these
questions:
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What are our goals for the Project?
Does the administration support the program?
Does the staff support the program?
Who are key people that should be involved?
Has funding been allocated?
What is our timeline?
Senior Experience Goals and Building
Blocks
 All Seniors will demonstrate that they have
essential skills to:
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transition to post-secondary.
transition to employment.
 The community and school staff will work
more closely together.
 All staff will work with Senior students.
 Parents will become more aware and be able
to check their Senior’s progress.
Step Two: Planning
 In this phase, you are researching the answers to
these questions:
 What feedback are we getting from stakeholders?
 What do we want the Senior Capstone
Experience to look like in our school?
 Who is responsible for what areas of the
project?
Senior Experience Options
 Project imbedded in a core subject
 Project offered as a stand-alone
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course
Project offered as a semester
course
Project offered as a year long
course
Project is a requirement for high
school graduation
Project is assigned a letter grade
Project is graded by pass/fail
Project Personnel
What personnel do you need??
 Senior Project Coordinator
 Faculty Advisor
 English Teacher
 Steering Committee
 Project Mentor
 Panel of Judges
Step Three: Designing
 This step involves identifying and
tailoring the components for your
school. This is the “big picture” piece.
Roles and Responsibilities
 Student
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It is the responsibility of the student to meet all
guidelines and timelines for the Senior
Experience.
 Faculty Advisor
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All professional staff members are available as
advisors. Advisors should limit their advisees
to no more than five to be able to work
effectively with each one.
Roles and Responsibilities
 English Teacher
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The English teacher is responsible for
monitoring the research phase of the Project.
 Senior Project Mentor
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Each student must have a Mentor who has
expertise/experience with the topic. The
Mentor must commit to working with the
student for 15 hours.
Roles and Responsibilities
 Steering Committee
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The Steering Committee provides overall
direction to the program. Committee members
should include representation from the
following: administrators, teachers, parents,
students, and business/community members.
 Senior Capstone Experience Coordinator
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Schools should have one person designated
as the Coordinator. This could be a paid
position with release time provided.
The Four Project Phases
 How will these components fit together?
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Project
Portfolio
Paper
Presentation
Initial Documents and Forms
 Senior Capstone
Guidelines
 Letter to Parents
 Letter to Seniors
 Project Timelines
 Topic Selection
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Guidelines
Topic Selection
Worksheet
Topic Selection Rubric
Topic Proposal
Topic Approval Form
Letter of Intent
Topic Change Form
Your Action Plan will Serve as Your
Compass…
Promotion and Marketing
 How will you promote the Senior Capstone
Experience program to stakeholders?
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Students
Parents
School Staff
Administration
School Board
Community Members
The Research Paper
 What are the
guidelines for
your school?
Research Paper Guidelines
 8-10 pages in length
 Hard copy and
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electronic submitted
APA or MLA format
Five sources, to
include one interview
Bibliography
Note Cards
The Product
 The product can be oriented around the performance
of a skill, the development of some physical product,
or the study of a profession. It is an appropriate and
logical outgrowth/extension of the research paper. It
demonstrates application of knowledge.
Product Criteria
 A Learning Stretch that can be:
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Experiential
Performance-based
Experimental
A Learning Stretch is
 An addition to the
student’s own
knowledge or skill
 Something they
haven’t tried yet
 Searching for answers
to questions they
have about a topic.
The Portfolio
 Items to include:
 Topic Selection Form
 Parental Approval Form
 Outline of Research Paper
 Research Paper
 Journal
 Product Agreement Form
 Evidence of Work – pictures, materials
collected, etc.
 Copy of Oral Presentation
The Journal
 Each weekly entry should cover the following:
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Describe what was done on the Senior
Capstone Experience that week.
Write a personal reaction or evaluation of what
was done that week.
The Presentation
 The Senior Experience Presentation is the
culminating event, which must include the
entire learning experience. It should reflect
elements of the paper, product and the
portfolio.
Step Four: Implementing
 When you reach this step, you
have already done the hardest
work! A phased in
implementation has hopefully
been identified in your plan.
Staff development is a critical
component in this phase.
Step Five: Evaluating Results
 In this phase, you
will need to frame
your evaluation
based on your
goals for the
Program and
student outcomes.
Program and Student Evaluation
 Program Evaluation – should be a yearly
event. What worked well?? What didn’t?
What are we going to change for next year?
 Student Evaluation – How are we going to
evaluate student results? What rubrics
should we use? Should one phase count
more than the other?
 Are we making any gains in student
achievement?????
Building Your Action Plan
Contact Information
 Marsha Kucker – mkucker@edec.org
High Schools That Work State Director
office - 367-7680
cell – 280-0650