THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

22

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO set more STANDARDIZEd REQUIREMENTS FOR SENIOR PROJECTS.

 

 


     WHEREAS, beginning with the graduating class of 2010, students are required to complete a senior project in partial fulfillment of the Board of Education Recognition Diploma, which is a diploma offered to all public school students who elect to complete more rigorous graduation requirements; and

 

     WHEREAS, the senior project is a school-based initiative, which means that the Department of Education sets certain standardized guidelines but allows each individual school to set its own detailed requirements for senior projects submitted to that school; and

 

     WHEREAS, each senior project is composed of four elements – a research paper, a culminating activity (a career focus, service learning, or student personal interest project), a project portfolio, and a presentation to a panel; and

 

     WHEREAS, due to the flexibility provided by the Department of Education to each school in implementing senior projects, requirements for senior projects vary widely across schools in the State despite some minimum guidelines set by the Department of Education; and

 

     WHEREAS, the "learning stretch" is one criterion used to determine the quality of a senior project and can be subject to differing interpretations based on the school a student attends or the particular senior project panel reviewing the student project; and

 

     WHEREAS, some schools require the completion of one hundred hours of community service, while other schools require the completion of only forty hours of community service, towards the culminating activity of the senior project; and

     WHEREAS, a student who is pursuing a Board of Education Recognition Diploma and transfers to another high school in the State is responsible for meeting the senior project requirements of that student's new school, which may present a significant barrier to the completion of that student's senior project; and

 

     WHEREAS, the flexibility granted to each individual school in setting requirements for senior projects creates unequal and inconsistent standards for attaining the Board of Education Recognition Diploma; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2010, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Education is requested to set more standardized criteria that shall apply to all public school students in the State who choose to pursue a Board of Education Recognition Diploma; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the standardized criteria set by the Department of Education ensure a consistent quality of work required and fair grading of work required to attain the Board of Education Recognition Diploma; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the standardized criteria set by the Department of Education include but not be limited to the following:

 

     (1)  A standard number of hours required to fulfill the culminating activity; and

 

     (2)  A standardized definition of the "learning stretch" that shall be applied uniformly across public schools statewide; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of Education and the Chairperson of the Board of Education.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Education; Senior Project; Standardization of Requirements