presentation requirements high school

The Ultimate Presentation Skills Guide for High School Students

Nobody is born an excellent presenter. Even the most captivating speakers had sleepless nights before their first presentation. It's no secret that a stunning presentation can be a game-changer, especially for high school students who need to impress their teachers and secure good grades. Moreover, excellent presentation skills are essential for every career path, making it equally crucial to master this art while in school. In this comprehensive guide, we aim to provide high school students with some practical and out-of-the-box presentation hacks to work smarter, not harder.

Break The Ice:

In a nerve-racking situation like a public speaking event, the best way to begin is by breaking the ice. A little humor, a fun fact, or even a brief storytelling session can help to connect with the audience and make them more interested in what you have to say. This approach will also help to calm your nerves and pave the way for a smoother presentation.

Know Your Audience:

Before you start crafting your presentation, you need to know who will be on the receiving end. Understanding the needs, expectations, and preferences of your target audience can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your presentation. Make sure to tailor your content, tone, and delivery style to meet your audience’s needs. If you are presenting to your classmates, keep the language fun and engaging. A presentation for your teacher or a panel of judges might necessitate a more formal tone.

Plan Your Talking Points:

After researching your target audience, the next step is planning your talking points. Having a clear roadmap can guide you throughout your presentation. Aim for three to five main points to ensure your content remains digestible and easy to follow. Remember, less is more!

Utilize Visuals:

Research shows that people remember 80% of what they see compared to only 20% of what they read. Therefore, incorporating relevant visuals into your presentation can dramatically increase your audience's engagement and retention. Consider using images, infographics, diagrams, or even short videos to make your presentation more appealing.

Practice, Practice, Practice:

One of the key productivity tricks to nail your presentation is practice. The more you rehearse, the smoother your delivery will be. Also, practicing helps you to remain calm, avoid awkward pauses, and be better prepared to handle any unexpected questions.

Use Technology:

In today's digital age, technology offers a plethora of tools to spice up your presentation. Platforms like Canva, Google Slides, and PowerPoint allow you to create aesthetically pleasing presentations with a few simple clicks. You can find thousands of pre-designed templates to suit your presentation style and topic. Additionally, using a platform like Zoom for your presentation can enhance your delivery with features like 'share screen', 'annotation', and 'virtual background'.

Remember, mastering public speaking and presentation skills is a journey. Don't expect perfection on your first trials. Keep honing your skills, embrace your mistakes and learn from them. As the renowned American motivational speaker Les Brown once said, ' You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. '

Fore more resources to keep up with your high school education, explore our website .

References for Further Reading:

• How To Speak So That People Want To Listen
• Tips for Presenting Your Design Work
• Christine Marrelli - Zoom November 24, 2020
• 9 Steps to a Great Presentation

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31 of the best class presentation tips for students

Katie September 20, 2022 communication , grades

By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed.

Giving class presentations is just part of the school experience. Some students dread presenting to their classmates, and others prefer class presentations to written assessments. If you’re new to this, or if you’re just looking for some ideas, I share my best class presentation tips for students in the post below. 

Class presentations often involve a visual component, and an audio and delivery component. The tips in this post are for class presentations that involve SLIDES, such as Google Slides or PowerPoint. Therefore, I break down the class presentation tips for students into the following categories:

• text and content
• Audio and delivery class presentation tips
• Bonus class presentation tips to up-level your game

Class presentation tips for VISUALS

The following tips will enhance the visual component of your school presentation. The strategies are further categorized by format, text, and images.

Class presentation tips for slide FORMAT 

The visual format of your presentation must be clear and easy to read.

1. Use a slide deck.

This class presentation tip is obvious, but I can’t leave it off the list. If you’re presenting to your fellow students, you will need some kind of visual representation of the information you’re delivering. Very rarely will you present to your class without slides. Google Slides and PowerPoint are the two primary products to make slides. 

2. Use the right number of slides.

Class presentations in high school and college will likely be 5 minutes or less. Follow your teacher’s guidelines, of course, but generally, students will use 1-2 slides per minute. (That would be 5-10 slides for a 5-minute presentation.)

3. Use an appropriate slide template and theme.

PowerPoint and Google Slides come with default slide templates (themes). Most of the default templates are suitable for class presentations, and so you should be fine choosing one of those. You can also find templates on the free version of Canva. I like slidesgo.com for free templates (it’s not sketchy – I’ve personally used it. I also like SlidesCarnival.com but you have to import the templates into Canva first, and then export them from Canva into Google Slides or PowerPoint. 

4. Use clear fonts.

Pick your font based on clarity, not creativity. Your audience should be able to read your text effortlessly and from the back of the classroom. Here are some rules:

• Avoid cursive / script fonts
• Avoid writing in all capital letters
• Avoid fonts that are entirely in italics (slanted)

5. Use a maximum of two fonts.

Stick to two fonts: one for headings and titles, and one for body text. More than two fonts make your slides hard to read.

6. Use 3-4 colors.

Stick to a basic color palette of no more than four colors. It’s fine to use images that are outside your color scheme, but besides images, avoid too many colors. Most default templates stick to four colors or less, so you’re safe if you use a pre-made template. 

7. Use high-contrast text-on-background combinations.

Your text needs to stand out from the background color. Black font on a white background or white font on a black background provides the highest contrast and best readability. This website here provides excellent information and examples about color combinations.

Class presentation tips for slide TEXT and CONTENT

8. start with a simple title slide..

Your teacher will likely require a title slide in the syllabus. Even if it’s not required, make one anyway. A title slide should be simple: the name of the presentation, your name, and a simple graphic or image. 

9. Include a roadmap slide.

A roadmap slide (I made up that term, but it works) is like a table of contents. It tells your classmates what they will learn from your presentation. Even if your presentation is only 6 slides long, a roadmap slide can be helpful. Below is an example. 

10. Include enough white space.

White space is the blank space that doesn’t contain text or images. White space is very important for readability. In the image below, you can see the impact white space has on readability. 

11. Use bullet points.

Whenever possible, use bullet points instead of complete sentences. Most slides should include no more than 5-6 bullet points. If you need to say more, continue the bullet points on another slide.

12. Leave some text off the slides.

Your slides should include minimal to moderate text that you will elaborate on during your class presentation. In other words, don’t cram the slides full of everything you want to share on the topic. The only exception to this rule is if you are not verbally presenting to the class, but are instead just sharing the slides with your classmates to view on their own.

13. Include examples.

Examples make most things clearer. When possible, include an example for all your main points. 

14. Include statistics and other quantitative information.

Use numbers in place of text when you can. Numbers and statistics can be easier for your audience to process. Example below:

• Instead of saying this: There is one-third as many Giant Pandas living in 2020 as there were in 2014.
• Say this: Giant Panda population in 2140 = 1864 | Giant Panda population in 2020 = 600 [ source ]

15. Include a summary slide

Consider adding a final summary slide to your class presentation. This is an excellent strategy because it will increase your audience’s understanding of your main points. The text on this slide should be in bullet-point format. The information on this slide might align with the information on your roadmap slide.

Class presentation tips for slide IMAGES

16. include an image or graphical element on each slide..

Every slide should have some kind of graphical element to complement the text. Some slides might even have an image and no text. (You would explain the image in your verbal presentation to the class.) Note: be sure to cite all images.

17. Use images / graphics for illustration and emphasis, not decoration .

Avoid using images for decoration. Images and graphics should do one of the following:

• Add something valuable to the text
• Illustrate the idea on the slide
• Represent the idea on the slide
• Emphasize an element of the slide (such as underlines, stars, etc.)

18. Resize and reformat images.

Resize images and graphics to fit the scale of your slide. It should be big enough to see clearly, but still allow for plenty of white space (Class Presentation Tip #10). You can remove the background of an image using a mobile app, or something like the paid version of Canva or PicMonkey. Again, be sure to cite your images.

19. Use video when appropriate.

If your presentation calls for it, include short video clips. Only use video if it adds value. 

20. Use icons for emphasis.

Use icons like stars, 3D shapes, speech bubbles, and arrows to emphasize important text. Keep these icons within your color scheme. You can find free icons within Google Slides and PowerPoint, or you can use Google Images or Canva.

21. Use graphs and charts.

Too much text is confusing. Too many images is boring. Solve this problem by using pie charts, bar graphs and other graphical ways of representing data.

Class presentation tips for SPEAKING

You might have the best slides in the class, but your presentation is not complete until you deliver it to your classmates. The following tips are for improving your audio and delivery.

22. Never read directly from the slides.

Use the slides as a reference, but don’t read word-for-word. How do you do this? First change to the next slide. Then look at it for cues. Next, speak directly to your classmates, making eye contact as your speak. It’s okay to glance back at the slide if you need to.

23. Face your audience.

Your body should always face the audience. Stand or sit either straight on, or at a 45-degree angle. Never have your body square to the presentation screen.

24. Explain the images.

When you present each slide, you should spend some time on the text and some time on the images. If your images add value (which they should), then this should be simple to do.

25. Speak slowly and clearly.

Speak slower than you naturally speak. Practice difficult words until they are smooth.

26. Use verbal transitions between topics.

When you change topics, use transition expressions such as “Next, we are going to look at …” or “Now, let’s move on to …”

27. Practice more than you want to.

Practicing your class presentation over and over improves your delivery and increases your confidence. Practice in front of the mirror, in front of others, or in front of your camera (to be watched later, of course).

Bonus class presentation tips for students: How to up-level your game 

The following bonus tips are for students looking to take their class presentations to the next level. Keep in mind that some of the ideas below are best suited for college and university students.

28. Provide a printed note-catcher.

An engaged audience is the best audience. To increase your classmates’ active focus, provide each student a printed note-catcher they can use to follow along with your presentation. PowerPoint and Google Slides both have features that enable you to print out your presentation with the slides on the left and space to take notes on the right. 

29. Ask questions and survey your classmates.

Another way to engage your audience is by asking them questions. You can build these questions into the slides themselves, or you can pause your presentation to ask questions before moving to a slide with the answers.

30. Use the Speaker Notes section .

The text on your slides should vary from the words you speak to your classmates during your presentation. Either you practice your presentation so much that you memorize it, or you use the Speaker Notes section on PowerPoint or Google Slides.

31. Open with a question, and close with an answer . 

A great class presentation tip for students is to open with a question you pose to your classmates at the beginning, and then close with the answer. You could put the question on its own opening slide and then close with another slide that re-poses the question and features the answer. 

For example, if you are presenting on Susan B. Anthony, your question could be Who was Susan B. Anthony? and the answer – which is the point of your presentation – could be Susan B. Anthony was one of America’s greatest champions for freedom and equality of women and slaves. College-level presentations would have more complex question-and-answer pairings than this example, but you get the idea.

Class presentation tips for students – summary notes

It’s important to follow your teacher’s requirements when creating your class presentation. Use these tips and strategies to maximize your grade, impression on the class, and your content delivery – but always consult your syllabus first. 

And finally, the greatest tip of all is to PRACTICE. In Tip #27 I emphasize the importance of practicing more than you want to. Watch TED talks and other notable speakers to see how smooth they speak – these presenters have practiced the same presentation hundreds of times. Practice is the key.

More resources

• How to ask for help in school: 4 tips for self-advocacy
• What to do when you’re confused in class
• 5 life skills all students need to be functional adults

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Ten simple rules for effective presentation slides

Kristen m. naegle.

Biomedical Engineering and the Center for Public Health Genomics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America

Introduction

The “presentation slide” is the building block of all academic presentations, whether they are journal clubs, thesis committee meetings, short conference talks, or hour-long seminars. A slide is a single page projected on a screen, usually built on the premise of a title, body, and figures or tables and includes both what is shown and what is spoken about that slide. Multiple slides are strung together to tell the larger story of the presentation. While there have been excellent 10 simple rules on giving entire presentations [ 1 , 2 ], there was an absence in the fine details of how to design a slide for optimal effect—such as the design elements that allow slides to convey meaningful information, to keep the audience engaged and informed, and to deliver the information intended and in the time frame allowed. As all research presentations seek to teach, effective slide design borrows from the same principles as effective teaching, including the consideration of cognitive processing your audience is relying on to organize, process, and retain information. This is written for anyone who needs to prepare slides from any length scale and for most purposes of conveying research to broad audiences. The rules are broken into 3 primary areas. Rules 1 to 5 are about optimizing the scope of each slide. Rules 6 to 8 are about principles around designing elements of the slide. Rules 9 to 10 are about preparing for your presentation, with the slides as the central focus of that preparation.

Rule 1: Include only one idea per slide

Each slide should have one central objective to deliver—the main idea or question [ 3 – 5 ]. Often, this means breaking complex ideas down into manageable pieces (see Fig 1 , where “background” information has been split into 2 key concepts). In another example, if you are presenting a complex computational approach in a large flow diagram, introduce it in smaller units, building it up until you finish with the entire diagram. The progressive buildup of complex information means that audiences are prepared to understand the whole picture, once you have dedicated time to each of the parts. You can accomplish the buildup of components in several ways—for example, using presentation software to cover/uncover information. Personally, I choose to create separate slides for each piece of information content I introduce—where the final slide has the entire diagram, and I use cropping or a cover on duplicated slides that come before to hide what I’m not yet ready to include. I use this method in order to ensure that each slide in my deck truly presents one specific idea (the new content) and the amount of the new information on that slide can be described in 1 minute (Rule 2), but it comes with the trade-off—a change to the format of one of the slides in the series often means changes to all slides.

Top left: A background slide that describes the background material on a project from my lab. The slide was created using a PowerPoint Design Template, which had to be modified to increase default text sizes for this figure (i.e., the default text sizes are even worse than shown here). Bottom row: The 2 new slides that break up the content into 2 explicit ideas about the background, using a central graphic. In the first slide, the graphic is an explicit example of the SH2 domain of PI3-kinase interacting with a phosphorylation site (Y754) on the PDGFR to describe the important details of what an SH2 domain and phosphotyrosine ligand are and how they interact. I use that same graphic in the second slide to generalize all binding events and include redundant text to drive home the central message (a lot of possible interactions might occur in the human proteome, more than we can currently measure). Top right highlights which rules were used to move from the original slide to the new slide. Specific changes as highlighted by Rule 7 include increasing contrast by changing the background color, increasing font size, changing to sans serif fonts, and removing all capital text and underlining (using bold to draw attention). PDGFR, platelet-derived growth factor receptor.

Rule 2: Spend only 1 minute per slide

When you present your slide in the talk, it should take 1 minute or less to discuss. This rule is really helpful for planning purposes—a 20-minute presentation should have somewhere around 20 slides. Also, frequently giving your audience new information to feast on helps keep them engaged. During practice, if you find yourself spending more than a minute on a slide, there’s too much for that one slide—it’s time to break up the content into multiple slides or even remove information that is not wholly central to the story you are trying to tell. Reduce, reduce, reduce, until you get to a single message, clearly described, which takes less than 1 minute to present.

Rule 3: Make use of your heading

When each slide conveys only one message, use the heading of that slide to write exactly the message you are trying to deliver. Instead of titling the slide “Results,” try “CTNND1 is central to metastasis” or “False-positive rates are highly sample specific.” Use this landmark signpost to ensure that all the content on that slide is related exactly to the heading and only the heading. Think of the slide heading as the introductory or concluding sentence of a paragraph and the slide content the rest of the paragraph that supports the main point of the paragraph. An audience member should be able to follow along with you in the “paragraph” and come to the same conclusion sentence as your header at the end of the slide.

Rule 4: Include only essential points

While you are speaking, audience members’ eyes and minds will be wandering over your slide. If you have a comment, detail, or figure on a slide, have a plan to explicitly identify and talk about it. If you don’t think it’s important enough to spend time on, then don’t have it on your slide. This is especially important when faculty are present. I often tell students that thesis committee members are like cats: If you put a shiny bauble in front of them, they’ll go after it. Be sure to only put the shiny baubles on slides that you want them to focus on. Putting together a thesis meeting for only faculty is really an exercise in herding cats (if you have cats, you know this is no easy feat). Clear and concise slide design will go a long way in helping you corral those easily distracted faculty members.

Rule 5: Give credit, where credit is due

An exception to Rule 4 is to include proper citations or references to work on your slide. When adding citations, names of other researchers, or other types of credit, use a consistent style and method for adding this information to your slides. Your audience will then be able to easily partition this information from the other content. A common mistake people make is to think “I’ll add that reference later,” but I highly recommend you put the proper reference on the slide at the time you make it, before you forget where it came from. Finally, in certain kinds of presentations, credits can make it clear who did the work. For the faculty members heading labs, it is an effective way to connect your audience with the personnel in the lab who did the work, which is a great career booster for that person. For graduate students, it is an effective way to delineate your contribution to the work, especially in meetings where the goal is to establish your credentials for meeting the rigors of a PhD checkpoint.

Rule 6: Use graphics effectively

As a rule, you should almost never have slides that only contain text. Build your slides around good visualizations. It is a visual presentation after all, and as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. However, on the flip side, don’t muddy the point of the slide by putting too many complex graphics on a single slide. A multipanel figure that you might include in a manuscript should often be broken into 1 panel per slide (see Rule 1 ). One way to ensure that you use the graphics effectively is to make a point to introduce the figure and its elements to the audience verbally, especially for data figures. For example, you might say the following: “This graph here shows the measured false-positive rate for an experiment and each point is a replicate of the experiment, the graph demonstrates …” If you have put too much on one slide to present in 1 minute (see Rule 2 ), then the complexity or number of the visualizations is too much for just one slide.

Rule 7: Design to avoid cognitive overload

The type of slide elements, the number of them, and how you present them all impact the ability for the audience to intake, organize, and remember the content. For example, a frequent mistake in slide design is to include full sentences, but reading and verbal processing use the same cognitive channels—therefore, an audience member can either read the slide, listen to you, or do some part of both (each poorly), as a result of cognitive overload [ 4 ]. The visual channel is separate, allowing images/videos to be processed with auditory information without cognitive overload [ 6 ] (Rule 6). As presentations are an exercise in listening, and not reading, do what you can to optimize the ability of the audience to listen. Use words sparingly as “guide posts” to you and the audience about major points of the slide. In fact, you can add short text fragments, redundant with the verbal component of the presentation, which has been shown to improve retention [ 7 ] (see Fig 1 for an example of redundant text that avoids cognitive overload). Be careful in the selection of a slide template to minimize accidentally adding elements that the audience must process, but are unimportant. David JP Phillips argues (and effectively demonstrates in his TEDx talk [ 5 ]) that the human brain can easily interpret 6 elements and more than that requires a 500% increase in human cognition load—so keep the total number of elements on the slide to 6 or less. Finally, in addition to the use of short text, white space, and the effective use of graphics/images, you can improve ease of cognitive processing further by considering color choices and font type and size. Here are a few suggestions for improving the experience for your audience, highlighting the importance of these elements for some specific groups:

• Use high contrast colors and simple backgrounds with low to no color—for persons with dyslexia or visual impairment.
• Use sans serif fonts and large font sizes (including figure legends), avoid italics, underlining (use bold font instead for emphasis), and all capital letters—for persons with dyslexia or visual impairment [ 8 ].
• Use color combinations and palettes that can be understood by those with different forms of color blindness [ 9 ]. There are excellent tools available to identify colors to use and ways to simulate your presentation or figures as they might be seen by a person with color blindness (easily found by a web search).
• In this increasing world of virtual presentation tools, consider practicing your talk with a closed captioning system capture your words. Use this to identify how to improve your speaking pace, volume, and annunciation to improve understanding by all members of your audience, but especially those with a hearing impairment.

Rule 8: Design the slide so that a distracted person gets the main takeaway

It is very difficult to stay focused on a presentation, especially if it is long or if it is part of a longer series of talks at a conference. Audience members may get distracted by an important email, or they may start dreaming of lunch. So, it’s important to look at your slide and ask “If they heard nothing I said, will they understand the key concept of this slide?” The other rules are set up to help with this, including clarity of the single point of the slide (Rule 1), titling it with a major conclusion (Rule 3), and the use of figures (Rule 6) and short text redundant to your verbal description (Rule 7). However, with each slide, step back and ask whether its main conclusion is conveyed, even if someone didn’t hear your accompanying dialog. Importantly, ask if the information on the slide is at the right level of abstraction. For example, do you have too many details about the experiment, which hides the conclusion of the experiment (i.e., breaking Rule 1)? If you are worried about not having enough details, keep a slide at the end of your slide deck (after your conclusions and acknowledgments) with the more detailed information that you can refer to during a question and answer period.

Rule 9: Iteratively improve slide design through practice

Well-designed slides that follow the first 8 rules are intended to help you deliver the message you intend and in the amount of time you intend to deliver it in. The best way to ensure that you nailed slide design for your presentation is to practice, typically a lot. The most important aspects of practicing a new presentation, with an eye toward slide design, are the following 2 key points: (1) practice to ensure that you hit, each time through, the most important points (for example, the text guide posts you left yourself and the title of the slide); and (2) practice to ensure that as you conclude the end of one slide, it leads directly to the next slide. Slide transitions, what you say as you end one slide and begin the next, are important to keeping the flow of the “story.” Practice is when I discover that the order of my presentation is poor or that I left myself too few guideposts to remember what was coming next. Additionally, during practice, the most frequent things I have to improve relate to Rule 2 (the slide takes too long to present, usually because I broke Rule 1, and I’m delivering too much information for one slide), Rule 4 (I have a nonessential detail on the slide), and Rule 5 (I forgot to give a key reference). The very best type of practice is in front of an audience (for example, your lab or peers), where, with fresh perspectives, they can help you identify places for improving slide content, design, and connections across the entirety of your talk.

Rule 10: Design to mitigate the impact of technical disasters

The real presentation almost never goes as we planned in our heads or during our practice. Maybe the speaker before you went over time and now you need to adjust. Maybe the computer the organizer is having you use won’t show your video. Maybe your internet is poor on the day you are giving a virtual presentation at a conference. Technical problems are routinely part of the practice of sharing your work through presentations. Hence, you can design your slides to limit the impact certain kinds of technical disasters create and also prepare alternate approaches. Here are just a few examples of the preparation you can do that will take you a long way toward avoiding a complete fiasco:

• Save your presentation as a PDF—if the version of Keynote or PowerPoint on a host computer cause issues, you still have a functional copy that has a higher guarantee of compatibility.
• In using videos, create a backup slide with screen shots of key results. For example, if I have a video of cell migration, I’ll be sure to have a copy of the start and end of the video, in case the video doesn’t play. Even if the video worked, you can pause on this backup slide and take the time to highlight the key results in words if someone could not see or understand the video.
• Avoid animations, such as figures or text that flash/fly-in/etc. Surveys suggest that no one likes movement in presentations [ 3 , 4 ]. There is likely a cognitive underpinning to the almost universal distaste of pointless animations that relates to the idea proposed by Kosslyn and colleagues that animations are salient perceptual units that captures direct attention [ 4 ]. Although perceptual salience can be used to draw attention to and improve retention of specific points, if you use this approach for unnecessary/unimportant things (like animation of your bullet point text, fly-ins of figures, etc.), then you will distract your audience from the important content. Finally, animations cause additional processing burdens for people with visual impairments [ 10 ] and create opportunities for technical disasters if the software on the host system is not compatible with your planned animation.

Conclusions

These rules are just a start in creating more engaging presentations that increase audience retention of your material. However, there are wonderful resources on continuing on the journey of becoming an amazing public speaker, which includes understanding the psychology and neuroscience behind human perception and learning. For example, as highlighted in Rule 7, David JP Phillips has a wonderful TEDx talk on the subject [ 5 ], and “PowerPoint presentation flaws and failures: A psychological analysis,” by Kosslyn and colleagues is deeply detailed about a number of aspects of human cognition and presentation style [ 4 ]. There are many books on the topic, including the popular “Presentation Zen” by Garr Reynolds [ 11 ]. Finally, although briefly touched on here, the visualization of data is an entire topic of its own that is worth perfecting for both written and oral presentations of work, with fantastic resources like Edward Tufte’s “The Visual Display of Quantitative Information” [ 12 ] or the article “Visualization of Biomedical Data” by O’Donoghue and colleagues [ 13 ].

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the countless presenters, colleagues, students, and mentors from which I have learned a great deal from on effective presentations. Also, a thank you to the wonderful resources published by organizations on how to increase inclusivity. A special thanks to Dr. Jason Papin and Dr. Michael Guertin on early feedback of this editorial.

Funding Statement

The author received no specific funding for this work.

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• High school level courses taken prior to Grade 9 may be used to meet prerequisites for advancement in a particular subject area and satisfy the Algebra requirement. A listing of these courses appears as a separate category on the high school transcript.  However, because graduation credit requirements may only be met by courses taken in Grades 9-12, courses taken prior to Grade 9 are not included in GPA or class rank nor do they count toward graduation requirements, except Algebra, which can satisfy the content requirement, but not the credit requirement.
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Presentation and Q&A on NYS Graduation Requirements

Please join us on  Monday, October 18th from 4-5:30 pm  for a  Presentation and Q&A on NYS Graduation Requirements .  This presentation will be tailored to new high school counselors, and all counselors seeking the latest information or a refresher are encouraged to join!

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Session topics will include:

• Current graduation requirements
• Diploma types
• Multiple (+1) pathways
• Endorsements
• Waivers, cancellations (due to COVID-19)
• Transfer students

Register here . Additional information may be referenced on the  informational flyer .  Questions pertaining to the current NYS diploma requirements may be emailed to  [email protected] .

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School Presentation Resources

When discussing options for students after high school graduation, many schools incorporate informational meetings about playing college sports during their school’s “College Nights” or other events throughout the year. These educational sessions help students and parents learn about athletic opportunities beyond high school and how to keep students on track. The NCAA Eligibility Center has prepared a packet of resources to assist with these events and empower high school counselors, coaches and other administrators, to give a detailed presentation about meeting academic and amateurism requirements to help prepare students to be successful in college.

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Some schools also invite speakers who are experts in college sports eligibility to assist with these presentations. Due to the volume and range of speaking requests received, the NCAA is unable to send staff members to most events. However, if counselors are not comfortable giving their own presentation we will do our best to connect you with an NCAA member school in your area that has a compliance officer available to present at your event. If a staff member at a local school is unavailable, we will work with you to ensure you have access to the available materials and assistance to put together a presentation for your audience. 

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IDOE reveals first draft of high school graduation overhaul, set to take effect 2029

High school will look different for Indiana students in coming years. The state revealed its first attempt  at creating  new graduation requirements  on Wednesday.

The requirements create two new high school diplomas: the Indiana GPS and the Indiana GPS Plus. GPS stands for graduates prepared to succeed.

Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner said the goal of revamping high school diplomas is to personalize students’ education based on  their goals after high school .

“What we’re really trying to consider is, how might we really allow for more flexibility and personalization for students depending on what their purpose and path is ahead?” she said.

Jenner said the new diploma requirements are the first of their kind and could serve as a model to other states. She added that  developing the requirements  was a massive undertaking, but Jenner said she believes the process has paid off.

“The past few months and years, we have been talking through this, planning for this,” she said. “In many respects, this has felt like pushing a massive boulder up a steep mountain because there’s no road map anywhere in the nation that we can just grab and take. When it comes to pushing a boulder up a mountain, no one person can do it alone.”

The GPS diploma is a reimagined version of Indiana’s current Core 40 diploma. For students to earn a GPS Diploma, they must take traditional subjects like English, math and science.

But they would also be required to show college and career readiness with experiences like attending job fairs, taking a career aptitude test or scoring well on the SAT.

The Indiana Department of Education said grades nine and 10 will focus on foundational courses and competencies. Along with English, math and science, students will also be required to earn credits related to career and postsecondary readiness, communication and collaboration, and work ethic. Credits in civics, financial literacy and computer science will also be required.

There are different ways to fulfill the credit requirements for each area. Students could satisfy one of the work ethic requirements with physical education or a health class. They could fulfill the second requirement by maintaining a 94 percent attendance rate or achieving a 3.0 cumulative GPA at the end of 10th grade.

Students in 11th and 12th grade would have even more freedom.

The IDOE uses a point system to measure older students’ mastery of skills and competencies since they earn credits outside of traditional classes. Students in grades 11 and 12 must earn at least 20 points to graduate. The current diploma proposal only requires that two of those points be for math and four for English.

Students can earn their remaining points in areas like fine arts, debate, JROTC, dual credit, Advanced Placement classes, work-based learning, or through other credentials and pathways.

Jenner said students who want more hands-on learning may opt for the GPS Plus diploma.

“The Diploma Plus very specifically requires a quality work-based learning experience for students,” she said. “And of course that varies by hours and what that might be.”

Students earning the GPS Plus Diploma must also graduate with a credential, certificate or college credit.

READ MORE: Indiana looks to in-demand labor skills ahead of graduation requirements overhaul

Join the conversation and sign up for the Indiana Two-Way. Text “Indiana” to 765-275-1120. Your comments and questions in response to our weekly text help us find the answers you need on statewide issues.

Indiana State Board of Education member Scott Bess said Indiana is paving the way for the rest of the nation by being less prescriptive about students’ high school experiences.

“We’ve got a launching point for what I think is going to be revolutionary in terms of what schools are able to do and the flexibility they’re going to have to be able to better serve their students,” he said.

George Philhower, superintendent at Eastern Hancock Schools, also spoke in favor of the new graduation requirements. He said for students to succeed, schools must have more space to meet their individual needs.

“We know it’s true that not every 17-year-old knows what they want to do for the rest of their life, but I think that we’ve used that to essentially not do a great job helping kids think about it,” he said. “I think any change that’s more student-centered is going to involve lots of conversations with kids about their future hopes and dreams and their current strengths, interests and values.”

The IDOE will hold two public comment periods this spring and summer before a final vote on the new requirements. The state will switch to the new diplomas at the beginning of 2029, but schools can choose to opt in sooner.

Kirsten is our education reporter. Contact her at  [email protected]  or follow her on Twitter at  @kirsten_adair .

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Higher test scores needed to graduate will impact 37% of county seniors. See the new rules

This year's seniors will be held to a higher standard, particularly in reading. here's what to know..

Thousands of Palm Beach County students in line to take an alternative path to graduation by using their college entry exam scores are at risk of falling short as the state embraces repeatedly delayed, more challenging standards.

For years, Florida has allowed students who fail the state's high school exams in math and reading to earn a diploma using their results on other tests like the ACT or SAT . But in an effort to increase academic rigor, the state Department of Education raised the graduation requirements before the class of 2024 even entered high school.

For the last several years, legislators delayed the implementation of those new requirements in an effort not to kick students who were already down due to the pandemic. The state even waived some testing requirements for graduating classes in 2020 and 2021.

However, this year's seniors, including roughly 13,000 in Palm Beach County, will be held to the higher standard — particularly in reading.

"(The state) has been trying to do this for a number of years," said Adam Miller, a senior chancellor at the state Department of Education, speaking at a Feb. 21 meeting of the school district's academic advisory committee. "For last school year, at the end of the school year, they did relent and leave things mostly as they were, which was great, and we see that reflected in our graduation rates."

From 2023: Last-minute change in Florida graduation requirements helps 700 Palm Beach County seniors

Last year, district records show that 37% of seniors across Palm Beach County used the alternative test scores, often referred to as "concordant scores," to get their diplomas. But for some groups of students, that number was far higher:

• 71% of students learning English used concordant scores to graduate.
• 48% of Black students used concordant scores to graduate.
• 45% of students who qualify for free or reduced-priced lunches used the concordant score requirements to get a diploma.

The higher bar to reach a diploma doesn't necessarily mean all of those students won't get to graduate, but Palm Beach County's data shows the new requirements will disproportionately affect the ability to graduate for students of color.

What are new reading requirements in Florida for 2024 seniors?

A majority of graduates will get their diplomas because they've met Florida's requirements: They've kept a 2.0 unweighted cumulative grade-point average, completed course credit requirements and achieved passing scores on the 10th grade Florida Standards Assessment for English Language Arts and the Algebra 1 or Geometry End-of-Course Assessment.

If a student does not pass the state reading or math tests, they can earn a concordant, or comparative, score on the common college entrance exams and still earn their diploma.

On the reading side, students who don't pass the language arts exam will now need to score a 480 on the SAT's reading and writing section. Last year, the required score was 430. The standard remains the same as last year for the ACT English and reading sections: Students must score an 18.

This year's requirements remove the SAT's reading-only section and the ACT's reading-only section as potential concordant scores. But they also added a new test, the Classic Learning Test, as an option. The state requires a student to score a 36 or higher on that test.

The Classic Learning Test is an exam that was first launched in 2016 and is popular with home-schooled and privately schooled students as an alternative to the SAT or ACT. The test markets itself as a step toward "reviving great education" in classical studies and texts. Its board of academic advisers includes conservative activists and people affiliated with religious schools like Hillsdale College in Michigan, NPR reported.

Last fall, Florida's state university system approved using the Classic Learning Test score for undergraduate admissions, making Florida the first state in the country to do so.

What are Florida's new math requirements for 2024 seniors?

On the math side, graduation requirements remain the same as last year for the following exams:

• PSAT Math section: Students must score 430 or above.
• SAT Math section: Students must score 420 or above.
• ACT Math section: Students must score 16 or above.

This year's requirements remove the option to use the Postsecondary Education Readiness Test, given to all high school sophomores, as a graduation alternative. Students caught in a lurch in 2023 took the test repeatedly in the final weeks of school to score the 114 required to graduate.

Finally, the quantitative reasoning section of the Classic Learning Test was added as a means to earn a concordant score this year. Students need to score 11 or higher to graduate.

Will there be any changes to graduation requirements in 2024?

School leaders confirmed this month that they don't expect any last-minute changes to the graduation requirements this year, but said they're confident in their test-prep programs for students who will use concordant scores to graduate.

"We're going to be under the new rules and expectations," Ed Tierney, the district's chief of schools, said at a March 6 school board meeting. "We've put a lot of time into graduation rates. ... High schools do a great job of preparing students for that. We push hard on the SAT and the ACT and refine our instruction on that."

Tierney also mentioned the school district has "found a path" to helping students prepare for the Classic Learning Test, specifically in the math section. He didn't provide any more details at the March 6 meeting.

Katherine Kokal is a journalist covering education at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at [email protected]. Help support our work, subscribe today!

Kansas high school students could see these new graduation requirements starting this fall

K ansas public education officials are nearing the final steps of updating the high school graduation requirements that have been in place since before current students were born.

The proposed new requirements would put a greater emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math — commonly known as STEM — while also adding requirements for a financial literacy class and out-of-classroom experiences.

But most controversial would be a graduation requirement on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

Scott Gordon, general counsel for the Kansas State Department of Education, spoke to the state board and the Legislature this month about the proposed changes to graduation requirements that have been in place since 2005.

"What you have in front of you is the result of a multiyear task force that was convened by the former chair of the Kansas State Board of Education," Gordon said.

"The graduation task force was made up of citizens, business leaders, parents, students, teachers, some of the past teachers of the year or members of the Teacher of the Year committee, other elected officials besides state board members, superintendents, principals, teachers, there was a variety of people on this particular task force."

When would the new graduation requirements start?

The state board still needs to hold a public hearing, which will be done in May, before it can take a final vote.

At that point, if the board adopts the regulatory changes, the new graduation requirements will start with this fall's freshman class.

If the board rejects the changes, they won't go into effect.

If the department is directed to make further changes to the graduation requirements before proceeding, "There's a very high likelihood that they will not be completely adopted and done before the freshman class enters," Gordon said.

Education commissioner Randy Watson said this was the fastest regulatory process he has seen: "We're right at a year it took, and that's the fastest it's ever happened."

Gordon said it moved fast despite a month-long delay because of one space between a period and a word.

More: Kansas high school graduation overhaul could take several more months — if it happens

The 21 credit minimum

Kansas currently requires a minimum of 21 total credits to graduate high school, and that's not changing.

"The total number of 21 doesn't change, by the way," Gordon said. "The state board had the option, they considered requiring additional courses, they decided not to do that and leave that at the discretion of the locally elected school boards."

Watson said all 286 public school districts require more than the 21 minimum, or they did pre-COVID. All were at 24 or above, with some as high as 32.

"The requirements that are established by the State Board of Education are the minimum requirements that an accredited school district must impose or require of their own students," Gordon said.

There is a segment of the student population that does only have to meet the 21, even if the local district requires more.

"The individuals that these probably affect the most are foster students or homeless students," Gordon said, because for a child that has been in the custody of the Kansas Department for Children and Families, "The law provides that those students actually their graduation requirements are the 21 hours."

English language arts

Students would continue to have a required four units of English language arts.

"The only difference moving forward will be instead of communication being something that may be included within the English language arts, it is now going to be a required part of the English language arts, at least for a semester, or a 0.5 credit," Gordon said.

The local school district has leeway to decide whether that is through a standalone communication course or by embedding it within a general English course.

In addition to communication, English classes must also cover reading, writing, literature and grammar.

"Businesses are saying students cannot communicate well," Watson said of the motivation for the change. "So they wanted a communications class, not necessarily a speech class, but a communications class of how to effectively communicate."

History and government

"There's no change to the three units of history and government which are required," Gordon said. "The course of instruction in Kansas history and government is something that's actually required by legislation. There's a statute that requires that, and so that will remain."

That Kansas history class can be waived for transfers who come in at a grade level higher than when Kansas material was covered.

"There is no change to the three units of science," Gordon said.

That includes requirements for physical, biological and earth and space science with at least one laboratory course.

"There is no change to the three units of mathematics," Gordon said.

Those must include algebraic and geometric concepts.

A new addition is a required unit of advanced science, technology, engineering, advanced math or similar studies. That class would be separate from the required math and science credits.

"These are the STEM courses that we are going to be requiring," Gordon said. "Computer sciences, for example, would fit within and be a STEM course, we just call it advanced math or advanced sciences because, candidly, it was easier to get that regulatory language written that way rather than trying to redefine what STEM was."

It would be up to local schools to decide what fits the STEM requirement.

"Because a lot of business and industry said we're a heavy STEM state, we need to really have more STEM education," Watson said.

Physical education and health

Students could see their PE requirement cut from a full year to one semester.

"For years there has been a requirement that a high school student take a full unit of physical education, and within that physical education, health will be embedded," Gordon said. "This now splits physical education into two separate courses, physical education being a half credit and health being a half credit."

Local districts would have the leeway to have those half credits combined into a single yearlong course.

The physical education credit will continue to have a waiver for students with a doctor's note that says they are unable to complete a PE course. Health will continue to have a religious objection by parents to material taught in a health class.

Education officials said the change is in response to surveys conducted by the task force.

"When you ask parents and you ask students, what is the biggest change that you want to see with your graduation requirements," Gordon said. "Across the board, students were tired of taking PE, because so many of them are already in other activities, they're already on sports teams or they just don't get anything out of it."

Financial literacy

Financial literacy would now be a required half-unit course for all high school students, Gordon said, acknowledging that some legislators have desired such a requirement.

Rep. Patrick Penn, R-Wichita, said he was "heartened by the regulation change" and pointed to House Bill 2039 during the 2021 session that would have imposed a financial literacy class — as well as a civics test — but was vetoed.

Gov. Laura Kelly's veto message to lawmakers told them the bill was "legislative overreach," pointing to the board of education having constitutional authority to set curriculum.

"I'm glad to see that they are catching up to the Legislature on that," Penn said of the board of education.

"The one unit of fine arts does not change," Gordon said. "It's the same thing that it's always been."

That may include art, music, dance, theater, forensics or similar studies.

Gordon said forensics can technically count toward both the fine arts requirement and the communications requirement, but not at the same time. That's because of a separate regulation that one unit may only satisfy one graduation requirement at a time.

The electives requirement would drop from six units to four and a half.

"That's to make up for the new classes that are going to be required," Gordon said, in order to keep the total minimum at 21.

'Accomplishments' in 'postsecondary assets'

Gordon said graduates will be required to have "two or more accomplishments approved by the state board that demonstrate the pupil will be a successful Kansas high school graduate."

He said the concept for requiring "postsecondary assets" came from a research foundation that found that "students are far more successful after high school if they have done something during their high school years other than sitting in a class. So that is why they want to make that as a minimum requirement."

Service projects, community service hours, youth apprenticeships and participating in athletics could be among the options for fulfilling that graduation requirement. Among other possibilities are obtaining an industry-recognized certification in a career and technical education course , such as welding, completing college classes while in high school, becoming an Eagle Scout, earning a 4-H Key Award or being in Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps.

Rep. Barb Wasinger, R-Hays, wanted more parameters from the state board to the local districts.

"It seems a little vague," she said.

Gordon said schools would know what counts, and they'd communicate that to parents and students.

"They will definitely have a list of activities by the time the regulations go in effect," he said. "If there's a school district that comes to the state board and says, 'Hey, we want this to count, we think this is a viable post secondary asset.' They can come to the state board of education, the state board will either approve it or not approve it. And once the state board approves that, then that list gets updated for everybody in the state."

Requiring students to apply for financial aid via FAFSA

The most controversial change is a requirement on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. To fulfill the graduation requirement, a student would have to file the FAFSA application with the U.S. Department of Education.

"They don't have to take it," Gordon said of any offered grants or loans. "They don't have to go to college. They just have to fill out the form. ... Unless the parents of a minor child say we're not filling it out, or, if the student is 18 years old, can say I know what the FAFSA is, I'm not filling it out."

"Why this is in there is Kansas turns back a lot of money in Pell Grants that would be free money for kids that qualify," Watson said. "They oftentimes don't know they qualify because they did not fill out the FAFSA because no one at home said you should do that.

"So again, they can waive out of it, but we found other states that have done it have found that they can provide students with more money that they don't have to pay back if they would have filled it out."

The FAFSA application would not be sent to the school district, only verification that it was filed with the federal government. That could be an email or screenshot, Gordon said.

Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, confirmed that, "to the extent that there are privacy concerns that the school superintendent or principal might know how much my daddy makes or those sorts of things, that information is not available to the district under this regulation."

"We do not want to collect that information about the FAFSA and the schools better not be collecting it either," Gordon said.

Penn said Gordon should "go back to the board and tell them to take this one out."

"I just sense something that is amiss here," Penn said, suggested the information could somehow be used against a family.

"There's no curtain that I'm hiding behind," Gordon said.

Carmichael told Gordon that "contrary to the advice of some of my colleagues, I encourage you to report back to the board that this is an excellent regulation" because it could provide more opportunities for students to seek a higher education.

Foreign language

Foreign language is not a state graduation requirement, though local districts may impose it.

"I've always been troubled that we don't require a foreign language or world language for high school kids," said Ann Mah, state school board member. But, "I don't want to change this to make that a mandate."

She suggested there could be other ways of promoting foreign language, such as through the postsecondary assets.

"The question that you want to wrestle with," Watson said, is "two years of a foreign language, does that give you enough knowledge of a foreign language to be beneficial once you're out of high school? I don't know. I had four years of French; I can't speak a word of it."

"I think it's at least as valuable as some of the other things that are on the list," Mah said.

Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X  @Jason_Alatidd .

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas high school students could see these new graduation requirements starting this fall

Explaining the major changes coming to Indiana high schools

(MIRROR INDY) — A major overhaul is coming for Indiana high schoolers.

With new proposals this week, state education officials hope to shift students’ focus from counting classes to exploring career paths — creating opportunities for students to complete college programs, internships and apprenticeships before leaving high school.

Their goal is to give students more voice in their high school experience and to expose them to careers earlier. That comes with doing away with the current Core 40 diploma system and replacing it with a new, modernized approach in which students accumulate points for every educational experience they complete.

The Indiana Department of Education took up the work after state lawmakers tasked them with “rethinking high school” last year. The department  presented its vision  for the first time Wednesday, March 27, kicking off a lengthy approval process to play out over the next year. The earliest high schools would feel the changes on a local level is 2029, meaning this year’s seventh graders would be the first to graduate with the new diplomas.

State officials say they hope the reimagined diploma can address a problem in Indiana: 76% of Hoosier high school graduates say they plan to pursue some form of higher learning, but only 53% actually follow through. It’s also an attempt to make sure high school is flexible to students’ needs and prepares students for jobs that quickly adapt to the latest innovations.

“High school education has not changed, for most, in over 100 years,” Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner said Wednesday. “And, yet, the world around us is changing.”

The overhaul would require increased collaboration between Indiana’s schools, higher education institutions and local businesses. However, the resources needed to make it happen are unclear. That’s where state officials say they want to hear from the public.

They’re encouraging parents, educators, business leaders and students to share their thoughts on their first draft of new graduation requirements. A state feedback portal  went live online  Wednesday.

What’s in the new diploma?

Under the proposal, a majority of students would graduate with either the Indiana GPS Diploma or the Indiana GPS Diploma Plus. A small number of students would qualify for an alternative diploma that Indiana is federally required to offer to those receiving high-need, special education services.

The Indiana GPS Diploma, as Jenner describes it, is “the pillar holding the bridge up.” It would establish foundational skills students must study as ninth and 10th graders, and would create more flexibility for juniors and seniors to fulfill graduation requirements with experiences both in and out of the classroom.

Foundational skill requirements would be organized by attributes like academic mastery, work ethic and communication rather than by subject matter like math, science or English. Students can earn credit through both classes they take at school and actions like going to a job fair, participating in co-curriculars and maintaining high attendance. State officials say this structure places an emphasis on skills students should be learning rather than classes they need to complete.

English and math credits would still be required but students would have more flexibility in choosing classes. High-level calculus courses, for example, were adopted in schools during the Space Race in the 1980s, Jenner said. Now, state education officials are looking at more applicable math classes, such as data science, that could be used in artificial intelligence or tech careers.

Once students complete the foundational skills requirements, they would have flexibility to complete their diploma with educational   experiences both in and out of the classroom using a newly proposed point system. A semester of English, for example, would earn a student one point while participation in an internship or school JROTC program could be worth two or four points. State officials say the point system would allow students to craft a high school experience that best fits their interests after high school.

The Indiana GPS Diploma Plus option would take graduation requirements a step further. In addition to meeting the requirements of the Indiana GPS Diploma, students seeking the Plus diploma would earn credit by completing an apprenticeship or work-based learning capstone.

For example, a student who worked 650 hours in a state-approved apprenticeship would meet the employability skills requirement of the proposed Diploma Plus model.

By exposing students to potential college or career paths in high school, state officials say, they hope to put students on the right track to pursue their interests after graduation.

“Does every student in our country need to have the same 30 to 40 classes or should we really understand what the student’s purpose or path may be?” Jenner said. “Let’s expose them to that career potential, let’s see if they like it in high school, let’s connect them with business leaders in that sector, but really light that fire and purpose earlier than we’re doing right now.”

Community support needed for new diploma requirements

Education officials acknowledge that community partnership is key in successfully adopting the new diplomas. They will need buy-in from business and industry leaders across the state to support a growth of student internships and apprenticeships — something State Board member B.J. Watts was quick to point out during Wednesday’s meeting.

“EVSC has 1,200 seniors,” said Watts, who also works with the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation. “If I flush 1,200 seniors into my business partners, are there places for them to land?” 

The Department of Education also will need higher education officials on board to expand dual credit opportunities and to agree to admit students who graduate with the new diploma. Jenner said she’s met recently with leaders at Indiana University and Ivy Tech Community College, and will consider their feedback as the department revises its proposals.

“Feedback is going to be key,” Jenner said. “It will not be perfect out of the gate, but we cannot let the perfect get in the way of the good on this. We have to start somewhere.”

Multiple state board members offered their feedback in real-time Wednesday, asking   if world languages could count toward students’ communication and collaboration skills, and whether high schoolers could earn points for a summer internship.

It’s unclear what support will be in place for the hundreds of teachers and school counselors who will be tasked with creating programs to meet the new diploma requirements and helping students navigate the changes. State officials say they want educators to tell them what they need.

Board member Scott Bess, who is also executive director of Purdue Polytechnic High Schools, pointed to the state’s recent blitz on elementary school reading, which  has seen multimillion-dollar investments  from public and private partners.

“We’re going to do the exact same thing with this,” Bess said. “The department’s going to step up. The legislature’s going to step up. Our philanthropy in Indiana is going to step up.”

What happens next?

The State Board of Education gave its unanimous approval to begin adopting the new diplomas. It’s the first step in a long series of state agency approvals that will need to take place over the next year.

Now, state officials say they’re turning to feedback.  An online form  is live now on the Department of Education website. It asks parents, students, educators, business leaders and policymakers for their thoughts on how the diploma proposals can be improved, as well as what resources are needed to support the transition.

A second public comment period is expected in June and July. Jenner said she also plans to take information about the new graduation requirements on the road.

“I plan to hop around the state and specifically listen to Hoosiers,” Jenner said. “It’s going to be a very, very active next four months.” 

A revised plan   could be brought back to the State Board of Education for their approval in August or September, Jenner said, with a final plan to head to the attorney general and governor by December.

Mirror Indy reporter Carley Lanich covers early childhood and K-12 education. Contact her at  [email protected]  or follow her on X  @carleylanich .

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