Program in Systemic School Reform

Senior Projects Initiative

The School District of Philadelphia is ramping up the quality and academic rigor associated with the "Senior Project" and PHENND is trying to match each participating school with a university partner. These partners will provide project mentors and other resources to help the schools and students succeed.

PHENND Course Development Institute

Senior Projects Initiative | June 9-11, 2008 | School District of Philadelphia | 440 N. Broad Street

PHENND is recruiting faculty from area campuses wishing to partner with selected high schools on the Senior Project Initiative. We are looking for faculty who will teach a service-learning course in Fall 2008 and/or Spring 2009 semesters using the Senior Project Initiative as a major service partnership for the course. Proposals from a variety of disciplines are encouraged.

The School District of Philadelphia is ramping up the quality and academic rigor associated with the state-mandated "Senior Project." PHENND has been asked by the District to match each participating school with a university partner. These partners will provide project mentors and other resources to help the schools and students succeed. To that end, PHENND is recruiting faculty from area campuses wishing to partner with selected high schools on the Senior Project Initiative. We are looking for faculty who will teach a service-learning course in Fall 2008 and/or Spring 2009 semesters using the Senior Project Initiative as a major service partnership for the course. Proposals from a variety of disciplines are encouraged.

About the Institute

Faculty who are interested in partnering with the Senior Projects Initiative are expected to attend a 3-day summer institute, (week of June 9) at the School District of Philadelphia.
Time will be spent:

  • meeting with District officials, teachers and high school students to learn more about the Senior Project Initiative
  • reviewing research on the educational impact of capstone projects like “Senior Project”
  • reviewing service-learning techniques and pedagogies, particularly as they relate to this specific project
  • meeting with potential teacher partners
  • meeting with faculty who have already taught service-learning courses related to the Senior Project

Background on Senior Project

In 1999, the Pennsylvania Department of Education instituted a new state-wide graduation requirement as an example of “authentic assessment.” Despite this broad-reaching requirement, school districts were not provided with any guidance as to how implement this requirement. Thus, each district, and oftentimes each school within districts, does Senior Projects differently. In Philadelphia, Senior Project implementation was varied and had mixed results. In 2006, the Office of Curriculum and Instruction decided to generate a new, more academically rigorous Senior Project based on a successful model in California. Ten high schools have been selected to pilot this new method.

Although each school implements the new method differently, there are four common themes. They are:

  • Research paper
  • Field work (typically 15 hours) or product
  • Portfolio
  • Oral presentation in front of a panel of judges

Generally speaking, students are focused on the research projects in the Fall semester and the remaining elements in the Spring semester.

Ideas for courses We are open to proposals from faculty from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds. However, potential courses/subjects that might fit exceedingly well with this project are:

  • Urban Education
  • Writing intensive courses particularly in Fall semester
  • Courses with a oral presentation component in Spring semester
  • Capstone service-learning courses
  • Sociology/anthropology courses focusing on poverty
  • Educational policy
  • Educational Psychology

Anyone interested in participating in the Institute and/or teaching a relevant course for the 08-09 academic year, should contact Hillary Aisenstein at 215-573-2379 or to discuss details.

Service-Learning Support Organizations - SLSO

PHENND co-convenes a round table of K-12 service-learning organizations. The group disseminates best practices, shares lessons learned, and advocates for improved and expanded service-learning support at the School District of Philadelphia. Past accomplishments include: creating a common definition of service-learning, producing service-learning curriculum supplements for the new core curriculum, and hosting the Atlantic Regional Service-Learning Conference (2004).

Ford Foundation Initiative (2000-2002)

With funding from the Ford Foundation, and in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania, PHENND worked to deepen partnerships between higher eds, their local school partners and community partner organizations. The project included substantial professional development (including academic credit) for teachers in order to implement a community problem solving approach.

For more information about any of these initiatives, please contact Hillary Aisenstein at hillarya@pobox.upenn.edu