Indiana leaders share more about ongoing,collaborative work to develop new diploma seals

Indiana leaders on Wednesday outlined the ongoing, collaborative process to develop new diploma seals in response to stakeholder feedback, as well as continued partnership opportunities to ensure all students have access to rigorous courses and experiences. Under the current proposal, students could earn an individual readiness seal or combination of readiness seals to support their unique post-graduation goals of enrollment, employment or enlistment leading to service. The readiness seals would be reflected on a student's transcript to signify their preparedness for success in their unique path ahead.

“High school is a time when we must support students in finding their purpose, knowing their value and understanding the possibilities for their life’s path,” said Dr. Katie Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education. “To create a high school experience that best prepares students for their future, we must continue to blur the lines between K-12, higher education and careers. The Indiana Commission for Higher Education (CHE), the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and Indiana National Guard are essential partners in our work to rethink high school and develop the new diploma readiness seals, and we will continue to work together to ensure high school is as valuable as possible for all students, regardless of their path ahead.”

Representatives from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (CHE), the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and Indiana National Guard presented information about the benefits to students pursuing enrollment, employment or enlistment leading to service, respectively. They also outlined key considerations when developing each seal and the various stakeholders they will continue to work with to build out a first draft of required courses and experiences for each seal.

The department also highlighted the work of College Board and International Baccalaureate (IB) to apply their rigorous academic models to career-connected learning, and how Indiana is partnering with these prestigious organizations to increase access to these expanded opportunities for more Indiana students. This includes College Board’s new Career Kickstart Program, powered by Advanced Placement and IB’s Career-related Programme.

Parents, community members and other stakeholders are encouraged to provide feedback on the first draft of the diploma rule via Jotform. In addition to the required one-month public comment window, Indiana leaders have encouraged and listened to stakeholder feedback over the past three months to ensure the first draft rule best meets students’ needs. Comments on the first draft will close on Tuesday, July 30, to ensure all feedback is reviewed prior to the publication of the second draft.

In addition to the online Jotform option above, for anyone who prefers to share feedback in-person, IDOE/SBOE staff will also hold a public hearing on Tuesday, July 30, at 10 a.m. ET in the Indiana Government Center South, in conference rooms four and five. The purpose of this hearing is to provide any member of the public an opportunity to share solution-based ideas to inform future iterations of the diploma rule. All public comments, including those submitted via the Jotform above, those shared at the public hearing, as well as those previously shared with IDOE and SBOE will be recorded and provided to SBOE members as part of the rulemaking process. Anyone may attend the public hearing in person or view online.

A second, refined draft of the diploma rule will be shared later this summer, which will begin a second round of public comment. The final draft is anticipated to be adopted in late 2024.

Per statute, Indiana’s current graduation requirements will sunset October 1, 2028, making final requirements effective for all students beginning with the class of 2029, or students entering eighth grade this fall. Schools may opt-in beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.

In order to lift every student to a better life through education, Indiana continues to make strategic investments and enact policies to rethink the four years of high school. Below are examples of this cross-agency work –  

• Expanded opportunities for students to explore, engage, and experience a range of potential careers in elementary, middle, and high school through the 3E Grant. In total, $57 million was awarded to schools and community partners in all 92 counties to incentivize and support early exposure to career options;
• Accelerated credential completion through Crossing the Finish Line, which provides high school students, who are just a few credits away from earning a credential, with free tuition, fees, books and other expenses. In 2023 alone, students earned nearly 2,000 total credentials, thus increasing their educational attainment;
• Created a consortia of urban school districts across Indiana identified as future leaders in the Early College model and connected them to experienced mentor schools;
• Supported schools in teaching and measuring key skills through the Employability Skills Grant, which awarded $10 million to 58 schools across 40 counties;
• Increased college affordability and going rates for our state’s most at-risk students by auto-enrolling eligible students in the state’s 21st Century Scholars Program;
• Helped more students gain both financial and digital literacy skills by requiring financial literacy and computer science courses for high school graduation. These courses may be taken in middle school, allowing additional course flexibility in high school;  
• Implemented the first-in-the-nation Career Scholarship Account (CSA) program designed to support the completion of credentials of value and quality work-based learning experiences, including modern youth apprenticeships;
• Streamlined K-12 Indiana Academic Standards in English/language arts, mathematics, social studies, science and computer science, reducing standards in each core subject area by 25% or more to ensure students are honing in on essential content;
• Re-envisioned how school and student performance is measured through the Indiana GPS performance dashboard. This dashboard provides students and stakeholders with learner-centered, future-focused data that displays how Indiana’s students are building the necessary knowledge and skills for success; and
• Redesigning school accountability in alignment with Indiana GPS and the new diploma requirements. Per statute, IDOE will provide the Indiana General Assembly with future accountability recommendations by December 1, 2024. 

To learn more about the proposed, streamlined diplomas, click here.