Pathways are changing for class of ’23

Graduating from high school in Indiana is going to get a bit more complicated for the state’s current eighth-graders. 

But at the same time, students may find they have more options to both help them graduate and be prepared for life after high school. 

Indiana Department of Education has spent the last year adjusting high school graduation requirements for Indiana students.

In previous years and for students currently in high school who will graduate in 2019-22, the basic diploma required taking the Core 40 classes and passing a graduation qualifying exam. 

Students could apply for a waiver if they were unable to pass the graduation exam. Those who opted out of taking the Core 40 courses graduated with a general diploma. Other diplomas included the Core 40 with Academic Honors and the Core 40 with Technical Honors, which also required the exam and had additional class requirements. 

For this year’s eighth graders, who will be entering high school next fall and graduating in 2023, graduation will require a few more steps. 

Students must still take the required classes to graduate with either the Core 40 classes or a general diploma. 

They must also show they are ready to be employed through either a service-, work- or project-based experience, with documentation showing what employability skills they learned. This could include an after-school job, completing a research project, participating in a sport or other extracurricular for at least one academic year or doing a service project. 

Thirdly, students must demonstrate they are ready for life after graduation.

“I think it provides kids options,” Dodd said. “We have a governor that’s telling us that not every kid has to go to college, that there are skilled trade opportunities for students right out of high school. I agree with him.” 

Jay County is already well-prepared to implement the program for next year’s high schoolers. It has a robust career and technical education system, including 23 vocational pathways — sequences of classes students can take in a specific subject. According to the new guidelines, students who take at least three classes in one of the vocational pathways and earn a C average would fulfill the third graduation requirement. The pathways include agribusiness, architectural drafting, manufacturing, health sciences and more. 

Twenty-one of those 23 pathways offer college credits if a student completes the sequence. In total, the school as 65 dual credit courses.

For those more academically minded, reaching the benchmark test scores and completing the Honors Diploma may go hand in hand. For the 5 to 7 percent of graduates who enter the military, passing the ASVAB will suffice, and students in the emergency medical technician class can receive state certification at the end of the course. A student could end up completing many of the options by the time he or she graduates. 

The multitude of choices will require some planning. Dodd said the school will start out by encouraging students to focus on at least one vocational pathway during their sophomore year. 

“Our plan is to really, that freshman year, get students to dive into the preparedness, the college and careers course, and find one of the 23 paths we offer,” Dodd said. “Then starting their sophomore year really take them down one of those vocational pathways, give them an opportunity to pursue a skill or trade in-depth.” 

Even students more focused on their honors classes and getting into college can benefit from a vocational pathway, and of course could always choose not to complete it once they achieve some other option to fulfill the requirement. 

But it’s better to be safe than sorry. 

“If a kid doesn’t meet one of those, they don’t get a diploma,” Dodd said. “If a student says, ‘I’m going to get the honors diploma,’ and that’s the only thing he focuses on, and he can’t pass pre-calc as a senior, now I can’t give him his diploma.”

The state is also allowing current high schoolers to opt in to the system. Dodd said the guidance counselors will encourage students who might have a problem passing the graduation exam to make the switch. 

He acknowledges that it will take some adjustment and collaboration between the students, parents and the school. And next week during eighth grade orientation — when students visit the high school and learn about class scheduling — he’ll go over the new requirements. 

“The more informed they can be now, the better choices we’re going to make for their student as we move them to this new direction,” Dodd said. 

Overall, even with the changes and the challenges they will bring, Dodd thinks the new pathways are a step in the right direction for Indiana. It’s not that it will be easier for high schoolers to graduate, he said; they’ll just have a better chance to based on their skills.