Distinguished Achievement Program

Distinguished Achievement Program

The Distinguished Achievement Program requires high performance beyond that usually expected of students in high school. In addition to specific course requirements, the Distinguished Achievement Program requires that all students successfully complete any combination of four advanced measures that focus on demonstrated student performance at the college level or work equivalent to that done by professionals in the arts, sciences, business, industry, or in community service. These measures are judged by external sources of evaluation.

Advanced Measures

The goal of Advanced Measures are that they reflect student performance at a college level.  Four Advanced Measures must be complete prior to graduation.  The four advanced measure can be achieved by choosing from the following list:

• Original research and/or project (no more than two):

• judged by a panel of professionals in the field that is the focus of the project; 
• or conducted under the direction of mentor(s) and reported to an appropriate audience; and related to the required curriculum set forth in §74.1 relating to Essential Knowledge and Skills.

• Test data where a student receives:

• a score of three or above on a College Board Advanced Placement examination;
• a score on the PSAT that qualifies a student for recognition as a Commended Scholar or higher by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation; as part of the National Hispanic Scholar Program of the College Board; or as part of the National Achievement Scholarship program for Outstanding Negro Students of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The PSAT score may count as only one advanced measure regardless of the number of honors received by the student.

• College courses: dual enrollment college academic courses with a grade of B (3.0) or higher.

Students must earn at least four advanced measures and may do so in any combination. For example, one student might receive a score of three or higher on four Advanced Placement examinations. Another may have a score of three or higher on two Advanced Placement examinations, complete a project in a mentorship program, and achieve an "A" or "B" in a community college dual enrollment course. A third student could take two college courses for high school credit, produce a portfolio of exemplary work in a specific field, and be recognized as a National Merit Finalist.

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