Last Blast of Summer

Summer is just about over and the start of the school year is upon us. This final “blast of summer edition” of Transition Trends will focus on the new Department of Education graduation requirements officially going into effect this year for the class of 2023. In December, 2017, the State Board of Education adopted these new graduation pathway policies. They are officially in effect now, though schools were free to opt in early if they wished. Because of these new requirements, students now have 4 options for graduation:

GQE

1. Pass the GQE (ISTEP+ 10)
2. Not passing the GQE (ISTEP+ 10), but receiving a waiver

Grad Pathways

3. Successfully completing the Graduation Pathway requirements
4. Unsuccessfully completing the Postsecondary-Ready Competency requirement, but receiving a waiver.

The first 2 options have not changed. Students may opt to take & pass the GQE (the Graduation Qualifying Exam plus the grade 10 exam) or receive a waiver if they do not pass the GQE and they meet the qualifications for a waiver. The other 2 options for graduation are new. If a student chooses option 3, they must meet at least 1 requirement in each of the following areas:

Graduation Pathways 3 Requirement Areas:

  1. Credits (diploma & curricular requirements), earn 1 of the following:

    • Core 40 diploma

    • Academic honors diploma

    • Technical honors diploma

    • General diploma

  2. Learn & demonstrate employability skills, complete at least 1 of the following:

    • Project-based learning experience

    • Service-based learning experience

    • Work-based learning experience

  3. Postsecondary ready competencies, complete at least 1 of the following:

    • Honors diploma

    • ACT

    • SAT

    • ASVAB

    • Industry Cert

    • Apprenticeship

    • CTE concentrator

    • AP/IB/Dual credit/Cambridge INT./CLEP

    • Locally created pathways:

      • Developed in accordance with the framework adopted by the SBOE and is approved by the SBOE.

      • The Board has approved two Locally Created Pathways (LCPs) thus far.

      • As demonstrated in the 2018 graduation data, schools are beginning to adopt these pathways to suit their students’ needs.

      • To help clarify and simplify the components of each LCP, SBOE, and IDOE staff developed guidance for schools and districts to follow.

      • The guidance is posted on the DOE’s website.

This is just a quick overview of the new graduation requirements, for more details, check out the Indiana Department of Education’s website here.

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