Graduation Project Handbook Information
Handbook Information | Important Dates | Common Forms

Glossary

Advisor - A Souderton Area High School teacher who presides over a group of students that includes approximately 1/3 in grade 10, 1/3 in grade 11, and1/3 in grade 12. The advisor notifies parents of student progress on portfolios four timesduring each school year.

Advisory - A time when students meet under the direction of the Advisor to add projects to their portfolios. The advisory will occur during the time frameof extended homeroom with students reporting to advisory instead of the regularly scheduled homeroom.

Benchmark -A measure of the level of achievement in a standard in a content area.

Citizenship - A goal designated by the Souderton Area School District Strategic Plan that asks graduating students to demonstrate the ability to positively participate and contribute to their community.

Communication - A goal designated by the Souderton Area School District Strategic plan that asks students to demonstrate the ability to clearly express ideas orally, visually, and in writing.

Completion - The status of a project, the portfolio, or the culminating project is complete when all requirements have been met as determined by the Graduation Project Coordinator.

Content Area - The body of information contained in an academic or elective subject.

Course - The presentation, practice, and assessment of material in a specific content area which enable a student to meet or exceed all standards in that content area.

Course Work - Learning experiences, tasks, and assessments contained in a course.

Criteria - Specific items upon which a task is judged.

Eligibility - A designation that a task meets the requirements and intent of the graduation project as determined by each discipline. Teachers willinform students of the eligibility of course projects.

Evaluation - The process of judging the quality of a product using criteria.

Facilitation - The process of providing guidance and coaching toward the completion of a task.

Graduation Project Coordinator - An individual responsible for managing the graduation project program, assisting students towards successful completion of their projects, and assessing non-content specific components of their projects.

Graduation Requirements - All course work, projects, attendance and other elements that result in the award of a high school diploma. Failure to meet any one of the graduation requirements will result in denial of graduation and withholding of the diploma.

Intervention - Additional support provided by the Souderton Area High School staff to facilitate success for the unsuccessful student. Students may remain unsuccessful in spite of interventions.

Letter of Intent - A two-part letter to the Graduation Project Coordinator. The first part is a self-reflection piece on the collected work in the portfolio. The second part is a proposal for the culminating project.

Mentor - An individual expert who voluntarily assists a student in pursuit of a goal, completion of a task, or solution to a problem.

Outline - An organized representation of the rationale and parts of a project.

Project - A task completed over time that requires higher level thinking and incorporates skills and content.

Proposal - A description of the student's intended research and demonstration for a culminating project which is submitted to the advisor to be forwarded to the Graduation Project Coordinator along with the completed portfolio in May of the junior year.

Research - The process of gathering and sorting information to support a thesis from a variety of sources. Sources may be traditional, electronic, or live. Primary sources are documentation of the topic. Secondary sources are documents about the topic.

Resources -

1. Sources of information. These can be traditional (books, magazines, newspapers), electronic (internet), live (in person interview or site visit), primary (a document/topic itself), or secondary (a document about the topic).
2. Materials or equipment needed to complete a task, for example a computer or video camera.

Standard - A level of skill or range of information viewed as key to a discipline.

Skill - Something a student is able to do within a discipline.

Scale 1-5 - A method of rating student work.

1. Novice
2. Apprentice
3. Partially Proficient
4. Proficient
5. Distinguished

Support - The process of coaching and providing access to resources to the student.

Technology - Computer hardware and software, video and photo recording and viewing equipment, audio recording equipment, calculators, and other instruments as specific to their fields of use.

Time Frame - The period of time in which a task is expected to be performed and completed.

Unsatisfactory - A designation that the work submitted does not meet requirements or levels of achievement consistent with standards in a discipline. Work at apprentice or novice level may be deemed unsatisfactory.