The Florida Senate

1003.493  Career and professional academies.--

(1)  A "career and professional academy" is a research-based program that integrates a rigorous academic curriculum with an industry-driven career curriculum. Career and professional academies may be offered by public schools, school districts, or the Florida Virtual School. Students completing career and professional academy programs receive a standard high school diploma, the highest available industry certification, and postsecondary credit if the academy partners with a postsecondary institution.

(2)  The goals of a career and professional academy are to:

(a)  Increase student academic achievement and graduation rates through integrated academic and career curricula.

(b)  Focus on career preparation through rigorous academics and industry certification.

(c)  Raise student aspiration and commitment to academic achievement and work ethics.

¹(d)  Support graduation requirements by providing creative, applied majors as provided by law.

(e)  Promote acceleration mechanisms, such as dual enrollment, articulated credit, or occupational completion points, so that students may earn postsecondary credit while in high school.

(f)  Support the state's economy by meeting industry needs for skilled employees in high-demand occupations.

(3)  A career and professional academy may be offered as one of the following small learning communities:

(a)  A school-within-a-school career academy, as part of an existing high school, that provides courses in one occupational cluster. Students in the high school are not required to be students in the academy.

(b)  A total school configuration providing multiple academies, each structured around an occupational cluster. Every student in the school is in an academy.

(4)  Each career and professional academy must:

(a)  Provide a rigorous standards-based academic curriculum integrated with a career curriculum. The curriculum must take into consideration multiple styles of student learning; promote learning by doing through application and adaptation; maximize relevance of the subject matter; enhance each student's capacity to excel; and include an emphasis on work habits and work ethics.

(b)  Include one or more partnerships with postsecondary institutions, businesses, industry, employers, economic development organizations, or other appropriate partners from the local community. Such partnerships must provide opportunities for:

1.  Instruction from highly skilled professionals.

2.  Internships, externships, and on-the-job training.

3.  A postsecondary degree, diploma, or certificate.

4.  The highest available level of industry certification. Where no national or state certification exists, school districts may establish a local certification in conjunction with the local workforce development board, the chamber of commerce, or the Agency for Workforce Innovation.

5.  Maximum articulation of credits pursuant to s. 1007.23 upon program completion.

(c)  Provide creative and tailored student advisement, including parent participation and coordination with middle schools to provide career exploration and education planning as required under s. 1003.4156 Coordination with middle schools must provide information to middle school students about secondary and postsecondary career education programs and academies.

(d)  Provide a career education certification on the high school diploma pursuant to s. 1003.431

(e)  Provide instruction in careers designated as high growth, high demand, and high pay by the local workforce development board, the chamber of commerce, or the Agency for Workforce Innovation.

(f)  Deliver academic content through instruction relevant to the career, including intensive reading and mathematics intervention required by s. 1003.428, with an emphasis on strengthening reading for information skills.

(g)  Offer applied courses that combine academic content with technical skills. Such courses must be submitted to the Department of Education no later than 5 months before the beginning of the school term in which such courses are planned to be offered. The State Board of Education must approve or disapprove courses no later than 3 months before the beginning of the school term in which such courses are planned to be offered. The department shall present new courses to the state board for approval a minimum of three times annually.

(h)  Provide instruction resulting in competency, certification, or credentials in workplace skills, including, but not limited to, communication skills, interpersonal skills, decisionmaking skills, the importance of attendance and timeliness in the work environment, and work ethics.

(i)  Provide opportunities for students to obtain the Florida Ready to Work Certification pursuant to s. 1004.99

(j)  Include an evaluation plan developed jointly with the Department of Education. The evaluation plan must include a self-assessment tool based on standards, such as the Career Academy National Standards of Practice, and outcome measures including, but not limited to, graduation rates, enrollment in postsecondary education, business and industry satisfaction, employment and earnings, achievement of industry certification, awards of postsecondary credit, and FCAT achievement levels and learning gains.

History.--s. 27, ch. 2006-74; s. 9, ch. 2006-301.

¹Note.--As enacted by s. 9, ch. 2006-301. For a description of multiple acts in the same session affecting a statutory provision, see preface to the Florida Statutes, "Statutory Construction." Paragraph (d) was also enacted by s. 27, ch. 2006-74, and that version reads:

(d)  Support the revised graduation requirements pursuant to s. 1003.428 by providing creative, applied majors.