(A)(1) Beginning in the 2015-2016 school year, the board of education of each city, local, exempted village, and joint vocational school district shall adopt a policy on career advising that complies with this section. Thereafter, the policy shall be updated at least once every two years.

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(2) The board shall make the policy publicly available to students, parents, guardians, or custodians, local post-secondary institutions, and residents of the district. The district shall post the policy in a prominent location on its web site, if it has one.

(B) The policy on career advising shall specify how the district will do all of the following:

(1) Provide students with grade-level examples that link their schoolwork to one or more career fields. A district may use career connections developed under division (B)(2) of section 3301.079 of the Revised Code for this purpose.

(2) Create a plan to provide career advising to students in grades six through twelve;

(3) Beginning in the 2015-2016 school year, provide additional interventions and career advising for students who are identified as at risk of dropping out of school in accordance with division (C) of this section;

(4) Train its employees on how to advise students on career pathways, including training on advising students using online tools;

(5) Develop multiple, clear academic pathways through high school that students may choose in order to earn a high school diploma;

(6) Identify and publicize courses that can award students both traditional academic and career-technical credit;

(7) Document the career advising provided to each student for review by the student, the student’s parent, guardian, or custodian, and future schools that the student may attend. A district shall not otherwise release this information without the written consent of the student’s parent, guardian, or custodian, if the student is less than eighteen years old, or the written consent of the student, if the student is at least eighteen years old.

(8) Prepare students for their transition from high school to their post-secondary destinations, including any special interventions that are necessary for students in need of remediation in mathematics or English language arts;

(9) Include information regarding career fields that require an industry-recognized credential, certificate, associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree, graduate degree, or professional degree;

(10) Provide students with information about ways a student may offset the costs of a post-secondary education, including programs such as all of the following:

(a) The reserve officer training corps;

(b) The college credit plus program established under Chapter 3365 of the Revised Code;

(c) The Ohio guaranteed transfer pathways initiative established under section 3333.168 of the Revised Code;

(d) Joint academic programming or dual enrollment opportunities required under section 3333.168 of the Revised Code.

The chancellor of higher education shall develop informational materials that illustrate cost saving estimates for each of the options listed under division (B)(10) of this section. The chancellor shall develop a list of individual college courses that are transferable under section 3333.16 of the Revised Code.

(C)(1) Beginning in the 2015-2016 school year, each district shall identify students who are at risk of dropping out of school using a method that is both research-based and locally-based and that is developed with input from the district’s classroom teachers and guidance counselors. If a student is identified as at risk of dropping out of school, the district shall develop a student success plan that addresses the student’s academic pathway to a successful graduation and the role of career-technical education, competency-based education, and experiential learning, as appropriate, in that pathway.

(2) Prior to developing a student success plan for a student, the district shall invite the student’s parent, guardian, or custodian to assist in developing the plan. If the student’s parent, guardian, or custodian does not participate in the development of the plan, the district shall provide to the parent, guardian, or custodian a copy of the student’s success plan and a statement of the importance of a high school diploma and the academic pathways available to the student in order to successfully graduate.

(3) Following the development of a student success plan for a student, the district shall provide career advising to the student that is aligned with the plan and, beginning in the 2015-2016 school year, the district’s plan to provide career advising created under division (B)(2) of this section.

(D)(1) The department of education and workforce shall develop and post on its web site model policies on career advising and model student success plans.

(2) The department shall create an online clearinghouse of research related to proven practices for policies on career advising and student success plans that districts may access when fulfilling the requirements of this section.

(3) The department shall develop and make available informational materials for students in grades seven and eight about career opportunities available to them, including in-demand jobs as defined in section 3333.94 of the Revised Code, and how a career-technical education may help them satisfy graduation conditions under section 3313.618 of the Revised Code.