Senior Project - Criticisms For The Senior Project

Criticisms For The Senior Project

Many people feel the senior project is unnecessary in that it is not a requirement for university or college (as a number of high schools and counties do not have a senior project program in place), that some projects are not challenging enough, or that the topic may not belong to one traditional subject. Student criticism often revolves around the point that it makes their senior year of high school considerably more difficult by placing an immensely stressful, unnecessary, time consuming project on top of assignments from other classes, and often takes away a student's time and credits, which might otherwise be used in pursuit of more beneficial classes (such as honors or AP classes). This is extenuated due to the fact that often, in-school and in-class hours are devoted by necessity to work on the project. With the majority of the project's work involved in writing and research, this leads to a usurpation of English class time that could prove vital to a student's future work. For students who are not planning to attend college (or have IEPs in place), the Senior Project creates "college level" expectations in which, unlike AP classes, there are few alternatives for students to choose in order to meet their graduation requirements.

Little guidance is generally provided regarding mentor selection. Some mentors are not vetted or approved by the school leading to drastically different experiences by the student depending on mentor quality, interest, and available time.

The open-ended nature of the Senior Project has also been said to cause unintended difficulties to arise. Disorganization and differing sources of information have made it difficult for many students to understand just what must be done at different times. Sometimes, "immutable" due dates for the project have proven to be bluffs considering the confusion and necessity of completion. Also, many of the students find it useless since college administrations don't even look at it or know what it is.

Many students feel that the senior project is unduly stressful. Students can do very well in all classes, even the literature course, but if they fail to complete their project, may have to repeat the senior year. Because Senior Projects are a relatively new phenomenon, communication among school personnel and realistic expectations from all parties involved are often not in place.

It is also commonly used in Governor's School programs found nationwide.

Most school systems do not have a mechanism in place in order to evaluate whether the Senior Project has been a successful change in the school curriculum. Criteria for judging success, or even the proper metric to determine student benefit, have not been clearly identified.