One of the hallmarks of Governor DeWine’s administration has been its emphasis on expanding and improving career pathways for students. Thus, it came as no surprise that the governor focused on this critical issue in his recent state of the state address. After noting that state law currently requires schools to help every student develop a plan for how they will meet graduation requirements, DeWine called on the legislature to “make a very simple fix in statute to insert career planning into existing graduation plan requirements.”
The state law the governor is referring to mandates that every student in grades nine through twelve have a graduation plan that maps their academic pathway to a diploma. Each pathway includes meeting course requirements, specified by both the state and district, and graduation requirements, which are the purview of the state. Plans are developed by the student and a school representative and must be updated each year until the student graduates.
The Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) has created a template for graduation plans. Districts aren’t required to use it, but it does serve as a model for what the state expects plans to contain. It’s worth noting that although the template asks students to identify their career field interests and their post-high school goals, neither section requires much in the way of engagement or in-depth thought from students. Likewise, other than a blank space to fill in “supports needed to achieve this goal,” nothing much is asked of schools, either.
This is likely where the governor sees an opportunity. If graduation plans are going to be truly beneficial for students, then surface-level, fill-in-the-blank career planning needs to be replaced with in-depth and impactful career advising. The solution to this problem seems simple. Just require districts to offer career advising to students. But here’s the twist: Ohio already requires districts to provide students in grades 6–12 with career advising. In fact, the statutory requirements for graduation plans explicitly state that they must “supplement a school district’s policy on career advising.” Even more surprising is the fact that career advising policies have been required under state law since the 2015–16 school year.
So what is the governor asking the legislature to do? It seems that he’s asking them to more clearly align the graduation plan statute with the one governing career advising. Rather than requiring graduation plans to “supplement and enhance the school or district’s policy on career advising,” he seems to be suggesting that state law should mandate that a student’s graduation plan incorporate and include the results of career advising experiences.
That’s a good start. But lawmakers should consider going further and update the career advising law, as well. Nearly a decade after first requiring districts to adopt a career advising policy, there still appears to be far too many students whose experiences are limited to box-checking exercises rather than in-depth exploration and consistent support. Whatever schools are currently doing, it’s not working for too many kids.
Although there are plenty of ways to improve the status quo, lawmakers should consider adding the following requirements to state law.
1. Require students to complete a career exploration course in middle school.
It’s critical that students be given the opportunity to explore each of Ohio’s career fields and the educational pathways that lead into those fields. It’s equally important that they are provided with this opportunity in middle school, so that they have a better idea of which courses—traditional academic, career-technical, or both—they want to take in high school. For example, students who know that they’re interested in cybersecurity or manufacturing prior to their freshman year will have far more time to complete the pathway courses identified by the state, participate in work-based learning, and earn industry-recognized credentials than students who don’t discover their interests until later in high school.
As for the career exploration courses themselves, they should be co-planned by the district and representatives from the district’s CTPD and Business Advisory Council. Course content should cover each of Ohio’s career fields, including available jobs within each field; the training (and training costs) required to obtain those jobs; salary ranges; Ohio regions where each field or job is most in demand; and projected job growth. Students should also be required to complete at least one aptitude or interest survey/assessment during the course. Districts should be free to decide whether to take advantage of state-provided tools to meet this requirement, or choose to utilize other options, like YouScience.
2. Require students to develop a career pathways plan at the conclusion of their career exploration course.
Using what they’ve learned over the duration of the course, students should complete a career pathways plan. As part of this plan, students should select at least one career field they intend to pursue, list specific jobs they’re interested in, and identify the courses or credentials they will need to complete in high school (or beyond) to be prepared for those jobs. Family engagement is crucial, so a parent or guardian should have to sign off on the plan before it can be considered complete. To ensure that students get a robust planning experience, legislators could set aside funds and create an RFP that allows nonprofits and other organizations with expertise and experience in the career planning space to take on the responsibility of helping students craft their plans. This would give students access to professionals with a broad knowledge base and could lighten the load for districts.
3. Require districts to incorporate students’ career pathways plans into their graduation plans.
With the above changes in place, every ninth-grade student would walk into their high school with a career plan. This opens the door for lawmakers to put the governor’s idea into action by mandating that districts use those career plans to help students draft their graduation plan. The most important thing is that students would be able to make informed decisions about which courses and programs to pursue in high school. But this could also lighten the load for school counselors, who would go from working with students who have little to no knowledge of their options and interests, to working with students who already have a solid plan in place.
To ensure that students aren’t stuck following a career plan that no longer matches their interests, districts should be required to assist students with formally updating their career plans twice during high school—once at the conclusion of freshman year, and again at the conclusion of junior year. This update requirement shouldn’t be an additional burden on districts, as they are already required to update graduation plans yearly. Updating career plans could be included in that process. However, districts should also be required to permit students to alter their plans whenever they request to do so.
4. Audit districts’ career planning efforts.
Quality career planning is essential to the success of the state’s career pathways efforts and hugely important for students’ futures. As such, lawmakers should make the creation of robust career plans for middle school students, as well as the biannual updates mentioned above, a condition for districts to receive career-focused funding. Furthermore, either the auditor of state or DEW should be charged with annually reviewing a random sample of career plans from randomly-selected districts. If plans aren’t up to the state’s standards, funding for their career education programs could be reduced or—in extreme cases—taken back entirely. Taken together, these measures should help ensure that districts take their career planning responsibilities seriously.
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Governor DeWine is right that career planning should be a bigger part of students’ graduation plans. But in order for that planning to be beneficial, students need an opportunity to explore all their options so they can make informed decisions. Districts, meanwhile, need to up their game. Despite the fact that career advising policies have been required for nearly a decade, there are still far too many students who graduate with no clue how to pursue their interests or even what they’re interested in. It’s time for Ohio to boldly rethink career advising and graduation planning. The recommendations outlined above offer a path to do so.
