Senior Capstone
Experience Framework
A Guide for South Dakota Schools
Senior Capstone Experience
 What are Senior Capstone
Experiences?
 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…..
Prepares student for post-secondary with:
 Research
 Analysis
 Developing a Product
 Completing a Portfolio
 Completing 15 hours of Mentoring
 Presentation
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.
Elements of a High Quality
Senior Capstone Program
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Clear and Aligned Purpose
Explicit, Rigorous Criteria
Authentic Project
Community Involvement
Coordination and Comprehensive
Communication
 Adequate Staffing and Supervision
 Parent Involvement
 Celebration and Recognition
Implementing the Senior
Capstone Experience
 Organize
 Plan
 Design
 Implement
 Evaluate
Step One: Organizing
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What are the 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?
Step Two: Planning
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Assign duties and responsibilities
Address anything that can prove to be detrimental
Alleviate fears of students and parents
 Be upfront and honest
 Explain the purpose
 Explain cost and time commitment
 Explain benefits
Determine how the program will fit into your
curriculum.
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 Advisors (if you choose to do this)
 English Teacher(s)
 Project Mentors
 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
 It is the responsibility of the student to meet all
guidelines and timelines for the Senior Experience.
 Faculty Advisor
 All professional staff members are available as
advisors. Advisors should be limited to no more than
five advisees to be able to effectively work with each
one.
OR

One Advisor coordinates the entire program with help
from faculty members in finding mentors.
Roles and Responsibilities
 English Teacher(s)
 The English teacher is responsible for monitoring the
research phase of the Project.
 Senior Project Mentor
 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.
 Senior Experience Coordinator
 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?
 Paper
 Product
 Portfolio
 Presentation
Initial Documents and Forms
 Senior Capstone
Guidelines
 Letter to Parents
 Project Timelines
 Point Breakdown
 Topic Selection
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Guidelines
Topic Selection
Worksheet
Topic Proposal
Topic Approval Form
Letter of Intent
Topic Change Form
Your Action Plan will Serve as Your
Compass…
The Research Paper
 What are the
guidelines for
your school?
Baltic’s Research Paper
Guidelines
 8-10 pages in length
 Several Checkpoints
 MLA format
 Five sources
minimum
 Bibliography
 Note Cards

Noodle Tools
 Stress research vs.
report
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.
 Powerpoint does not equal Product!
Projects Require a Learning Stretch,
Which 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
 Sections:
 Required Documents
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Research Paper
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Topic approval form, signed mentor forms, typed
overview, reflection, etc.
Outline, bibliography, polished final draft
Journal
Product
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Evidence of Work – pictures, materials collected,
etc.
Baltic’s portfolio checklist and rubric (show
example portfolio)
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.
Baltic: 1/3 page of Word document, submitted
through Web CT
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.
 Baltic: 2 nights, practice night in the works
 Rubric
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?
 Evaluate at the conclusion of each school
year.
Contact Information
 Marsha Kucker – mkucker@edec.org
High Schools That Work State Director
office - 367-7680
cell – 280-0650
 Scott Fossum – scott.fossum@mitchelltech.edu
Central Area Tech Prep Director
office – 800-MTI-1969
995-3072