Aseel Eid, a senior, prepares to present a slide show for judges that focuses on her fondest memories of high school.

The Providence Journal / Kathy Borchers

COVENTRY — Aseel Eid, a senior at Coventry High School, bore an expression of mingled pride and joy while standing at the lectern as a digital presentation of her fondest high school memories flashed on a screen behind her.

A small judging panel of teachers and other professionals watched the slide show from Eid’s project. Some nodded their heads in time with the medley of pop songs that accompanied the visuals, while others took notes.

The topic of her project is how memory and the concept of cherishing moments are important to human development. As her presentation offered data about her project, Eid told the panel: “With these findings, I wish to underline the importance of reflecting on how remembering moments can lead to better attitude and behavior.”

Eid is among 100 students who recently presented their Capstone projects, among several components in the state Department of Education’s new, rigorous graduation requirements. A Capstone is a comprehensive research assignment that demonstrates the ability to focus on a topic of the student’s choice — such as jazz music or dairy farming — using applied learning and technology skills. The student must develop an oral, written and a computerized presentation.

There are three types to choose from: a career Capstone, in which the student shadows a professional and then writes a research report and gives an electronic presentation about that profession; a product Capstone, in which a student creates something, such as a slide show, a scale model, or a brochure about the chosen topic; and an event Capstone, which means the student organizes and executes an event, such as a fundraiser for a worthy cause.

Because of the new regulations, this is the first year that the students at Coventry High School had to make formal presentations in front of judges. In the past, Capstones were presented before classmates and evaluated by their teachers. (Consequently some students, including Aseel Eid, who previously made their presentations had to do so again.)

The presentation is meant to showcase all of a student’s academic skills and highlight the topic itself. The student must show how the project came together, what materials and resources were used and what they learned from putting the project together. The entire Capstone is collected in a large binder along with the electronic display.

“We have been doing Capstone presentations [in classrooms] for several years now,” said Michael Hobin, principal of Coventry High School. “This is the first large-scale Capstone. The Class of 2008 has to be judged with exhibitions in front of a panel.”

A class for the projects is offered at the high school, and students are encouraged to sign up for it as early as sophomore year. They are required to take the class by the end of their junior year. In class, students learn how to choose a project, how to execute it, collect the data, organize it and record their findings in a journal. It is hoped that a student will complete the project by the end of junior year. Students receive a grade for completing their Capstone class, but must also make their presentation to the panel, which will evaluate them.

The panel judges are teachers and work professionals from the community who volunteer their time. They score on language use, delivery, organization, preparation, content use of media, and how well the students employed primary and secondary sources and can respond to questions about their project.

For their presentation, students are evaluated on a grading system or “rubric” with three levels: exceeding the standard, meeting the standard or below the standard, Coventry High’s head of guidance, Arthur Lisi, said. In the actual Capstone class, students are evaluated the same way, but the teacher ultimately translates that into a standard letter grade. This year will be first year that Capstone presentation evaluations will be listed on a graduating senior’s permanent transcript, Lisi said.

Overall, under the state’s new graduation requirements, students in Coventry must complete 20 courses in high school, take standardized tests in 11th grade and show they have mastered key concepts and skills through a portfolio and a demonstration that can be either a senior project or a Capstone.

A senior project is a three-month-long assignment done during a student’s final year in high school.

The portfolio is a collection of work — papers, tests, projects — from their four years that exemplify proficiency in core academics. The portfolios can either be collected on computer or on paper this year, but by 2010, all of the data must be on computer, Hobin said. “We wanted kids to have multiple opportunities to meet the standard,” Hobin said.

Most students graduating this year have completed their Capstone projects because before it became one of the state’s requirements, it was something students at Coventry were encouraged to do to receive a Certificate of Mastery distinction on their diplomas.

Hobin said that means the students completed a series of “rigorous tasks” or assignments and get that special designation on their diplomas. He said there are support workshops, in addition to the Capstone class, after school to help students figure out how they can create a project.

“We are struggling with the students who are not finished. Some have yet to take advantage of the supports,” Hobin said “Some students refuse to participate because they think it’s going to go away. There are about 100 seniors who are still not finished or at various stages toward completion.”

lsparks@projo.com