JAY – Incoming freshmen will need 25.5 credits when they graduate four years from now. That’s one more credit than students need this year.

School Committee members approved Jay High School Principal Peter Brown’s proposal to have a portfolio/exhibition requirement be part of graduation requirements at the school beginning with the Class of 2007.

The portfolio proposal developed by school staff is all part of meeting state and federal education regulations, Brown said.

“It’s a different way of assessing our students,” Brown said. “It will be in total effect for the Class of 2007, and all students are doing some piece.”

Each year, beginning with the incoming freshmen, a student should earn one-quarter credit toward graduation. At the end of their senior year, with “successful” completion of the portfolio/exhibition presentation, the student would meet the additional one-credit graduation requirement, Brown said.

Grades on the report card would be either “P” for pass or “F” for fail; they will be recorded at the end of the school year.

This year’s ninth-, 10th- and 11th-grade students can also earn one-quarter credit toward graduation by completing this requirement. Failure for these students to meet the requirement each year would result in an “F” on the report card, but it still would be possible for these students to graduate.

Students advancing to sophomores, juniors and seniors will have to complete portfolio checklists, which include work samples, reflective paragraphs for each work sample, updated dreams and visions, strengths and weaknesses, and short- and long-term goals.

At each grade level students will write an essay to put in their portfolios: For freshmen, it is “Who am I?”; sophomores, “Where am I going?”; juniors, “The career I have chosen”; and seniors, “Plans following graduation.”

Four years from now, before this fall’s incoming freshmen graduate, they’ll be required to have a portfolio they’ve put together throughout their high school years and also will be required to do an exhibition.

The exhibition will require an oral presentation by students that will be assessed by a team of community members and educational staff using a “rubric,” also known as a scoring tool.

In addition to teachers and administrators on the judging team, students will be able to choose a couple of people, probably three adults and a student from their class, Brown said, to grade them.

Portfolios will be career/best works related, Brown said. The whole concept will be a continuing work in progress, he said, and will be tweaked and adapted as necessary. The assessment on the portfolio would include points for organization, document caption, reflective paragraphs and creativity.

The exhibition presentation would be scored on topic/purpose; verbal delivery, which includes pitch, speed, volume and tone; nonverbal delivery such as eye contact, posture and dress; language; questions addressed; conclusion; and time, with 10 to 12 minutes an excellent length.

Students are assigned an academic adviser who meets with them three times a month and who will help them establish a portfolio. Staff will also help the Class of 2007 students prepare for the senior exhibition.

“If they don’t have it all done by the time they’re seniors, then they won’t graduate,” Brown said.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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