| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to career and education planning; amending |
| 3 | s. 1003.4156, F.S.; requiring career exploration in |
| 4 | specified fields to be included in a career and education |
| 5 | planning course required for middle grades promotion; |
| 6 | providing an effective date. |
| 7 |
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| 8 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 9 |
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| 10 | Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section |
| 11 | 1003.4156, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 12 | 1003.4156 General requirements for middle grades |
| 13 | promotion.- |
| 14 | (1) Beginning with students entering grade 6 in the 2006- |
| 15 | 2007 school year, promotion from a school composed of middle |
| 16 | grades 6, 7, and 8 requires that: |
| 17 | (a) The student must successfully complete academic |
| 18 | courses as follows: |
| 19 | 1. Three middle school or higher courses in English. These |
| 20 | courses shall emphasize literature, composition, and technical |
| 21 | text. |
| 22 | 2. Three middle school or higher courses in mathematics. |
| 23 | Each middle school must offer at least one high school level |
| 24 | mathematics course for which students may earn high school |
| 25 | credit. |
| 26 | 3. Three middle school or higher courses in social |
| 27 | studies, one semester of which must include the study of state |
| 28 | and federal government and civics education. |
| 29 | 4. Three middle school or higher courses in science. |
| 30 | 5. One course in career and education planning to be |
| 31 | completed in 7th or 8th grade. The course may be taught by any |
| 32 | member of the instructional staff; must include career |
| 33 | exploration in the fields of science, technology, engineering, |
| 34 | mathematics, agriculture, business management and |
| 35 | administration, retail and wholesale, construction, education, |
| 36 | the arts, hospitality, advanced manufacturing, automotive |
| 37 | services, biotechnology, cosmetology, aerospace, energy and |
| 38 | power, transportation, homeland security, information |
| 39 | technology, healthcare, and service industries using CHOICES for |
| 40 | the 21st Century or a comparable cost-effective program; must |
| 41 | include educational planning using the online student advising |
| 42 | system known as Florida Academic Counseling and Tracking for |
| 43 | Students at the Internet website FACTS.org; and shall result in |
| 44 | the completion of a personalized academic and career plan. |
| 45 |
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| 46 | Each school must hold a parent meeting either in the evening or |
| 47 | on a weekend to inform parents about the course curriculum and |
| 48 | activities. Each student shall complete an electronic personal |
| 49 | education plan that must be signed by the student; the student's |
| 50 | instructor, guidance counselor, or academic advisor; and the |
| 51 | student's parent. By January 1, 2007, the Department of |
| 52 | Education shall develop course frameworks and professional |
| 53 | development materials for the career exploration and education |
| 54 | planning course. The course may be implemented as a stand-alone |
| 55 | course or integrated into another course or courses. The |
| 56 | Commissioner of Education shall collect longitudinal high school |
| 57 | course enrollment data by student ethnicity in order to analyze |
| 58 | course-taking patterns. |
| 59 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010. |