How we develop our Big Picture South Burlington transcript? If you aren’t already familiar with our Proficiency-based Graduation Requirements, you can view our own PBGR Transcript here.
We started the school with the philosophy that students should be doing rigorous real-world work. We had students designing award-winning TV shows, doing graphic design, and designing and running a financially successful website. Then we had to take those interdisciplinary projects and assign credit in our common categories. For example we would say this project got 0.2 math credits, 0.1 science credits, 0.4 English Credits and so on. It was an awkward fit and didn’t represent the skills and thinking that we (and most organizations) wanted from our graduates. So we decided to develop our own set of proficiencies.
We then worked with consultants from Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center in Colorado to develop a set of proficiencies based around our best practices and the Vermont Framework. They were developed by a panel of advisors, students, teachers, administrators, guidance counselors, and community members. Our proficiencies have been revised multiple times and referenced to the Common Core State Standards. PBGRs put students in the driver’s seat in creating and being responsible for their path towards graduation.
Sample BPSB Proficiency Based Graduation Requirement Tracking Document
Overview of our Proficiencies
We have broken our Proficiencies into three sections, as follows:
- Domains of Learning: These are statements of critical understandings that students have. Every one of these Power Standards has a major assessment that goes with it, but students can individualize that assessment. For example, the assessment for Communication is a 10-15 page research paper in which the student gets to choose the topic
- Distribution Requirements: This is our place where we make sure students get the breadth of understanding they need to be successful. This section of the transcript has proficiencies ranging from “Reason Using Statistics” to creating “Healthy Personal Habits.”
- Required Experiences: There are certain experiences that the students do that we value and want to represent on their transcripts. These are items like “Participate in Weekly Community Meeting,” “Meet One on One with their advisor,” or complete an annual “Service Learning Trip.”
Big Picture has been a leader in Vermont for graduating students by proficiency, which previously not many schools did. New Hampshire now requires the use of proficiencies, and Vermont may also require this in the future with their new Education Quality Standards. As part of this statewide effort, Big Picture has been part of a leadership team to run Proficiency-based Graduation Workdays that have been successful statewide. Click here to view a video from a PBGR Workday.