Florida Senate - 2011 SB 150
By Senator Smith
29-00060-11 2011150__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to career and education planning;
3 amending s. 1003.4156, F.S.; revising the general
4 requirements for middle grades promotion to require
5 that a course in career and education planning explore
6 the National Career Clusters; providing an effective
7 date.
8
9 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
10
11 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
12 1003.4156, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
13 1003.4156 General requirements for middle grades
14 promotion.—
15 (1) Beginning with students entering grade 6 in the 2006
16 2007 school year, promotion from a school composed of middle
17 grades 6, 7, and 8 requires that:
18 (a) The student must successfully complete academic courses
19 as follows:
20 1. Three middle school or higher courses in English. These
21 courses shall emphasize literature, composition, and technical
22 text.
23 2. Three middle school or higher courses in mathematics.
24 Each middle school must offer at least one high school level
25 mathematics course for which students may earn high school
26 credit. Successful completion of a high school level Algebra I
27 or geometry course is not contingent upon the student’s
28 performance on the end-of-course assessment required under s.
29 1008.22(3)(c)2.a.(I). However, beginning with the 2011-2012
30 school year, to earn high school credit for an Algebra I course,
31 a middle school student must pass the Algebra I end-of-course
32 assessment, and beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, to
33 earn high school credit for a geometry course, a middle school
34 student must pass the geometry end-of-course assessment.
35 3. Three middle school or higher courses in social studies,
36 one semester of which must include the study of state and
37 federal government and civics education. Beginning with students
38 entering grade 6 in the 2012-2013 school year, one of these
39 courses must be at least a one-semester civics education course
40 that a student successfully completes in accordance with s.
41 1008.22(3)(c) and that includes the roles and responsibilities
42 of federal, state, and local governments; the structures and
43 functions of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches
44 of government; and the meaning and significance of historic
45 documents, such as the Articles of Confederation, the
46 Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution of the United
47 States.
48 4. Three middle school or higher courses in science.
49 Successful completion of a high school level Biology I course is
50 not contingent upon the student’s performance on the end-of
51 course assessment required under s. 1008.22(3)(c)2.a.(II).
52 However, beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, to earn high
53 school credit for a Biology I course, a middle school student
54 must pass the Biology I end-of-course assessment.
55 5. One course in career and education planning to be
56 completed in 7th or 8th grade. The course may be taught by any
57 member of the instructional staff; must include career
58 exploration aligned to the National Career Clusters supported by
59 Florida’s Career Clusters Initiative; must include career
60 exploration using Florida CHOICES or a comparable cost-effective
61 program; must include educational planning using the online
62 student advising system known as Florida Academic Counseling and
63 Tracking for Students at the Internet website FACTS.org; and
64 shall result in the completion of a personalized academic and
65 career plan. The required personalized academic and career plan
66 must inform students of high school graduation requirements,
67 high school assessment and college entrance test requirements,
68 Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program requirements, state
69 university and Florida college admission requirements, and
70 programs through which a high school student can earn college
71 credit, including Advanced Placement, International
72 Baccalaureate, Advanced International Certificate of Education,
73 dual enrollment, career academy opportunities, and courses that
74 lead to national industry certification.
75
76 Each school must hold a parent meeting either in the evening or
77 on a weekend to inform parents about the course curriculum and
78 activities. Each student shall complete an electronic personal
79 education plan that must be signed by the student; the student’s
80 instructor, guidance counselor, or academic advisor; and the
81 student’s parent. The Department of Education shall develop
82 course frameworks and professional development materials for the
83 career exploration and education planning course. The course may
84 be implemented as a stand-alone course or integrated into
85 another course or courses. The Commissioner of Education shall
86 collect longitudinal high school course enrollment data by
87 student ethnicity in order to analyze course-taking patterns.
88 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.