Graduation & Beyond

Ask yourself, “If I was an incoming freshman student, what pathway to graduation would best fit my needs and hopes for the future”?

Would you meet the competency requirement by passing the end of course exams in Algebra I and English II? Would it be in your best interest to utilize one of the competency alternatives, such as earning an appropriate Industry Recognized Credential? Which Readiness Seals would you pursue as part of your high school experience? Asking yourself these questions and looking at the world through the eyes of your students may help prepare you to have these types of discussions with students and families who are facing the same questions and decisions.

A resource that helps with just this type of decision-making is “Unlock Your Future”, created by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. This resource serves as a one-stop shop for students and families to learn about Ohio’s updated graduation requirements. It offers user-friendly resources to help every student "Unlock Your Future" and emphasizes that graduating high school is both a major milestone and the starting point for future success.

Ohio’s list of Industry Recognized Credentials has been updated with several new IRC's available for students to earn, either as part of their pathway to graduation or support successful career attainment after graduation. New IRC's are available in fields including Information Technology, Manufacturing, Construction, Agriculture, and Arts & Communication, just to name a few.

How does your school introduce students to the concept of IRC attainment? What discussions are occurring in the classroom? Are IRC's part of the discussion during the development of Graduation, or Student Success Plans? Are IRC’s introduced at freshman orientation? Alternate Pathways to graduation are not typically considered by most students and families and therefore must be explicitly talked about as viable options for all students. Given Ohio’s emphasis on workforce readiness, what systemic practices are in place to ensure students have continued support in exploring and earning IRC's while in school?

A recent article by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute encourages educators to critically look at their school's practices of offering IRC's. The article states, “More Ohio high school students are earning industry credentials, but are they valuable in the labor market?” The this short but powerful article outlines the percentage of IRC's being earned by students in Ohio… and how many of these IRC's are determined to help students advance in skilled professions and yield the technical knowledge and skills that employers demand.

Dates - September 24, 2024, October 29, 2024, November 12, 2024, December 17, 2024, January 14, 2025, February 11, 2025, March 18, 2025, and April 22, 2025

Time/Location - 8:30 - 10:00 | Virtual

Audience - Intervention Specialists, General Educators, Guidance Counselors, Special Ed Directors, Community Partners

Description - Each session is a 60 minute "Power Hour" presentation followed by an optional 30 minute Q&A/peer-to-peer networking time that will allow participants to share ideas and dive deeper into the content and implementation strategies discussed during presentation.

Topics scheduled to be covered in these sessions currently include Ohio's Updated Graduation Requirements, exploration of Industry Recognized Credentials, Student Success Plans, Students with IEPs Graduation Decision-Making Tool, best practices for partnering with OOD and Board of DD in graduation planning, and more. Alignment of specific topics to specific dates and guest speakers are listed below. This list will be expanded as more guest speakers are confirmed.

9-24-24: Aaron Weisbrod: Graduation Pathways, Plans, and Decision-Making Tool

10-29-24: Aaron Weisbrod: Career Connections Framework

11-12-24: Lauren Duris (Learning Blade): Learning Blade

12-17-24: Chelsea Canterbury (DEW): ABCs of CTE as Career Advising

1-14-25: Andrew Buck (OSU Nisonger Center): EnvisionIt

2-11-25: Graham Wood (DEW): Credit Flex

3-18-25: Details Coming Soon

4-22-25: Details Coming Soon

Attendance of every session is highly encouraged in order to best connect the information, resources, and implementation strategies discussed from session to session. Once you register you will be automatically registered for all dates.

The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, in partnership with multiple partners engaged in career-connected learning from across the state, will host virtual Career-Readiness Leaders Meetups again this school year. The next virtual meetup will be October 8, 2024 at 2:30 with future meetups taking place on the second Tuesday of each month, except November and March, which will be held in person.

These meetups connect leaders across the state to discuss and share best practices for engaging students in career-connected education and advising. Leaders who want to develop business-education partnerships, work to expand work-based learning, facilitate cross-curricular career connections, or work to develop career fair and job shadowing experiences should attend.

Educators who work with students on plans for their future and school leaders looking to offer students more career awareness, exploration, and planning opportunities should consider attending Ohio's Career Readiness Leaders Network Virtual Meetups.

Sign up to receive calendar invitations for these meetups. Email Sara.Watson@education.ohio.gov for more information.

In our next edition we will explore the difference between Ohio's graduation requirements vs federal graduation requirements, what your district needs to do to meet all requirements, and more.

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This document/product/software was supported in whole or in part by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, (Award #H027A160111, CFDA 84.027A, awarded to the Ohio Department of Education). The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, and no official endorsement by the Department should be inferred.