Currently, over 22 states require that high school students pass an exit exam before graduating. Part of this trend towards exit exams is due to legislation and mandates, such as those influenced by the educational act “No Child Left Behind.” The intent of these exams is to ensure that students are being held accountable for their own learning while in school. To extend on this accountability, however, some states and schools are now requiring that students complete a graduation project, often either to replace or supplement an exit exam.
What is a Graduation Project?
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To help students learn different strategies of research and writing, many graduation projects focus on a study of inquiry, where students can research a topic, theory, or question for which they find personal interest. Some of these projects require that students write and cite an essay correctly, present their ideas and theories to a panel, prove that they can write an essay cohesively and using an organized sequence, while also showing their overall ability to speak and write convincingly. In this sense, it can be compared to a high school version of defending one’s master’s thesis.
One of the benefits of a graduation project is that students are actually engaging in work that is intended to prepare them for the “real world” after graduation. As students engage in projects of inquiry, they are able to explore different modes of support while also learning how to articulate their own thoughts